Revenge of the Ice Prince
by DarkHorseBlueSky
Summary: When Kirsty and Rachel, now sixteen, accompanied by the immortal assassin Serene, travel to Jack Frost's Ice Castle to rescue Queen Titania, they find a boy in the dungeon whose very existence disproves all they've known their entire lives. And when this kid breaks out, the magic that they knew is going to take a dark turn...and it won't involve rainbows. ROTG AU, RM world. JackxOC
1. Serene Is Not Necessarily Peaceful

**Author's Warning: Not my best work. And I was too lazy to fix it. Rated T for violence and the author's personal paranoia.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for the stuff I made up.**

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"Kirsty! Rachel!"

The voice was thin and old, and wobbled with fear. Yet at the same time, it sounded somehow familiar. Kirsty knew this voice, but she could not pick out how. It was a woman's voice, and for a second Kirsty wondered if it was her mother or even her grandmother. _No,_ she said to herself, _Granny's dead. And my mother would never be haunting my dreams._

Then in the dream, for that is what it was, an image appeared. It was fuzzy and gray, but through the haze Kirsty could barely see the hunched form of a woman, sitting on a glass bench and held down by blue glass shackles. The woman's hair was white, and her clothes were tattered. She coughed, and the chains on her wrists and ankles rattled. And that's when Kirsty realized that the cuffs were not glass. They were ice.

The entire cell was made out of ice and tightly packed snow, and the only light came from a flaring blue torch outside of the cell bars. Kirsty wondered how they could burn without melting the entire prison, but this was a small worry and was able to be ignored. Because at that moment, the old woman started to move.

Her head tilted up slowly, and their gazes locked. The face of the woman was pale and wrinkled, and her eyes were hollow. "Free me," she rasped, her misty gray eyes flaring brightly. "FREE ME!"

And Kirsty awoke from the dream with a gasp.

She now recognized the old woman. It had been Queen Titania, ruler of Fairyland.

_ What to do?_ she asked herself. It had been almost three years since their last fairy adventure, and she had pretty much given up on the fairies. She was sixteen and in high school now; why would she burden herself with the knowledge that fairies were real? And could they be? She had dismissed the notion as a figment of her childhood's young, imaginative, and quite frankly ADHD mind, albeit a very intricate figment that pretty much spanned her entire childhood. Her friendship with Rachel had slowly faded away as both girls became more preoccupied with school and their closer friends.

But could the friendship be rekindled? And was it just a dream?

Both questions were answered when her cell phone rang. Kirsty snatched it up off her bedside table and answered before the second ring, but she didn't even have time to say hello before the girl on the other end of the line shouted, "Did you just see that?"

"Yeah," said Kirsty, somewhat flustered at Rachel's sudden outburst. "I did."

"So they're real?" asked Rachel. "The fairies? They weren't just our imaginations?"

"I'm not sure," replied Kirsty. "It could just be our memories, coming back to us –– "

"I don't think so. I've never seen anything like this before. They have to be real, Kirsty."

Kirsty couldn't take it anymore. She was confused, and tired, and to boot she was having another migraine. "Rachel?" Her childhood friend kept talking about fairies. "RACHEL!" The other girl finally stopped.

"Yes, Kirsty?"

"Do you hear yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're talking about FAIRIES. Fairies! You're sixteen, Rachel. You're going into your junior year of high school in two weeks. And you're talking about FAIRIES. Grow up. You're not a kid anymore."

There was a stony silence over the phone, then Rachel's voice, small and lonely, asked, "What?"

"It was just a dream. Our imagination. Face it. There's no such thing as fairies, or goblins, or Jack Frost." For a moment, Kirsty wondered if Rachel had hung up. "Rachel?"

"I'm still here," replied Rachel in a voice as cold and hard as ice.

Kirsty wasn't sure what to say. She had never heard Rachel's voice that harsh. So she said nothing, and Rachel said it for her.

"You might have given up on them," she said. "But I'm going. I'm using my locket, and you're welcome to follow me."

There was a silence, and then a click. Rolling her eyes, Kirsty threw her phone onto her bed. So what if her childhood friend still believed in fairies? She could just keep doing that, and they'd all see how that went. Kirsty almost looked forward to the moment when Rachel would call her back crying, saying that the "magical lockets" that held the "fairy dust" didn't work. She knew exactly what she'd say. "I told you so."

She started getting dressed, in jean shorts and a t-shirt. But right as she was about to enter the bathroom to do her hair and makeup, a golden glimmer caught her eye. Curiously, she turned. It was coming from her jewelry rack, from a particular golden locket…

After their adventure with the seven Color Fairies, Rachel and Kirsty had been given two matching lockets that were filled with emergency fairy dust. Through their other adventures, they had always worn these lockets everywhere, just in case they needed a little fairy magic. If opened, the fairy dust inside would shrink the two human girls down into fairy size, sometimes also sending them to Fairyland.

Puzzled, Kirsty made her way to her jewelry stand and took the locket off its hook. She had put it up there years ago, when she made up her mind that fairies weren't real. She had never worn it again. The soft golden glow emanating from the golden pendant stirred a distant memory, and Kirsty tentatively stroked the sides. Where was the latch?

Her finger pressed against the tiny latch, and the locket popped open.

There was a noiseless explosion, and iridescent glitter sprayed out of the tiny golden locket. Kirsty yelped and stumbled backwards, dropping the necklace. Some of the glitter cascaded down on her, and she touched some of it curiously. No, it wasn't glitter. It was…fairy dust.

At that moment, everything around her started swirling into colors.

She found herself being swept down a rainbow, and involuntarily she screamed and shut her eyes. When the feeling of falling wore off, she cracked open her eyes. She was standing in the middle of a beautiful garden that looked like it had been taken right out of a fairytale. Everything was green and blooming, and warm sunlight filtered through the fruit trees above. Through the spaces in the leaves of the trees, Kirsty thought she could see a castle's white spires. Birds sang sweetly, and somewhere she could hear a bubbling fountain. The cobblestone pathway felt comfortingly cool under her bare feet. She could smell the faint, springy scent of flowers, fruit, and freshly cut grass. But somehow, there seemed to be an invisible haze of sadness and regret, making the fairy garden feel more like a graveyard.

"It is beautiful, yes?"

Kirsty swerved around. But as she did so, her hand brushed against something behind her, and she felt the strangest of feelings. Whatever she had touched, she could not only feel it in her hand, but also in whatever it was she touched. Almost as if it was another part of her body. Momentarily forgetting the voice that had caused her to turn around in the first place, Kirsty craned her head to see what it was she had touched. She saw a pair of beautiful silver fairy wings, and reached out a tentative finger to touch them. Her finger brushed against it, and she could _feel_ her touch. These wings were a part of her body.

"You have grown so much, Kirsty Tate," the voice said again, and Kirsty tore her eyes from her wings and towards the source of the voice. She saw an old man, dressed in red robes and a golden crown, sitting on a bench. She scrambled for the name, which was buried under years of other memories and facts and words that had accumulated over the long period of time that had lapsed between her last Fairyland adventure and this moment. "King…Oberon?"

The faintest trace of a smile appeared on the old man's wrinkled, weary face. "It has been a while since you have last come. And you, Rachel Walker. You are such a lovely young woman now."

Kirsty turned and jumped when she saw Rachel suddenly appear next to her. Rachel also had wings, and wore her golden locket around her neck. "Thank you, your majesty."

"Rachel?" gasped Kirsty. "How did you get here?"

"Same as you," replied Rachel. "I…I think. Did you use your locket?"

"Well, not…purposefully," said Kirsty, hesitating before the last word.

Rachel rolled her large blue eyes. "Enough with the pleasantries," she said impatiently. "King Oberon, what's wrong? Kirsty and I both had a dream that her majesty the queen was –– "

"Kidnapped?" the fairy king finished. "Yes, or so I recall…what did you see in your dreams?"

They told him.

"Ah," he said in his slightly dazed, somewhat distracted voice. "So you saw her in Jack Frost's dungeon. Bound with ice chains, you say? Then it is as I suspected. Come, let me show you how she was taken."

He led both girls over to a golden pond, and at the sight of the pond a bit of memory floated back to Kirsty. "I remember this pond," she said. "Isn't it the seeing pond?"

King Oberon did not reply, only stretched out his hand and waved it over the water. The golden water rippled, and when the ripples settled they saw an image. It was the image of a woman, who looked similar to the Queen Titania they had seen in their dreams except…younger, perhaps. Her hair was long and dark, and there were fewer wrinkles on her peaceful, smiling face. She was walking alone in the gardens where they now stood, with her face tilted up towards the warm sun.

Until the sun was blotted out by clouds, that is.

When the sudden gray clouds covered the sky, Queen Titania frowned. Leaves rustled, and the wind started to pick up. Snow crystals swirled on the breeze, and suddenly a pale blue figure dropped from the sky. He landed on his feet on the ground in front of Queen Titania, and they all saw his face. Jack Frost! The ice king was tall and cold, with an icicle beard, scowling blue eyes, white hair, and a blue face.

"Jack Frost," said Queen Titania calmly. "What a pleasure it is for you to drop in."

"Save the pleasantries," Jack Frost snapped in a voice like breaking icicles. He stretched out a long, white finger towards the fairy queen and before she could act, encased her in a giant cube of ice and carried her away on the wind.

The image in the pool rippled and faded, and King Oberon lowered his head sadly. "Without my beloved Titania," the king lamented, "fairy magic has lost some of its power. If she is not returned to Fairyland within three days' time, magic will fade entirely and fairies will become powerless. Even the magic used to create the images in the seeing pool is weak."

"What are we going to do?" asked Rachel. "And why did Jack Frost take Titania?"

"He took her to weaken us, but also for her gift of magic sight. Titania can sense when another fairy or fairy dust user is nearby, and can read their thoughts at will. Using her as a tool, Jack Frost has drawn this power from her and is able to detect when we send someone to rescue her. The only ones who are undetectable by this magic are humans or human hybrids."

"So you want us to rescue her?" asked Kirsty.

"Not alone," said Oberon. "Along with you I shall send one other, who was once a human yet knows the ways of magic. Her name is Serene."

"Serene?" Rachel repeated. "You mean…Serena the Salsa fairy?" They had met Serena, who was a Dance Fairy, in one of their previous adventures.

"No. I meant what I said. Her name is Serene. She was a human before she chose to join our ranks permanently and become immortal. She is not a complete fairy and uses a different form of magic that does not require fairy dust, but is instead a guardian and protector of our existence. She, with many others like her, help conceal the existence of Fairyland from human eyes.

"When do we get to meet her?" asked Rachel.

"Right now," said a new voice from above them. All three of them looked up. In the apple tree above them, perched nonchalantly on a branch with one leg dangling down, was a girl. No, not exactly a girl. Her ears were slightly tapered like an elf, and she had silver wings like a fairy, but instead of a wand, she held a long steel-tipped spear. She seemed about the same age as Kirsty and Rachel, but her dark brown eyes seemed centuries old. She was dressed in a strange mixture of clothing, with ripped gray jeans, knee-high black boots, leather fingerless gloves that went up to her elbows, and a light gray vest over a dark long-sleeved shirt. There was a black-handled dagger strapped around her left thigh in a black holster. Her short, unkempt dark hair and overgrown bangs framed an olive-skinned face. Her lips were curled in a sarcastic, mischievous smirk that Kirsty and Rachel recognized from the faces of devious, kleptomaniac kids who got sent down to the principal's office daily. "I'm Serene." She held out her hands as if to say, _What now?_

"Come on down, Serene," called King Oberon.

Serene yawned, stretched, stood up on the branch, and plucked a golden apple from one of the nearest branches of the tree she was in –– and this was a real, pure gold, twenty-four-karat apple, not just one of those yellow ones. As Kirsty and Rachel stared, she leapt from the tree, sailed over the golden pond, and landed on the cobblestone sidewalk in front of Oberon, Rachel, and Kirsty. "So these are the human heroes," she remarked coolly. "I expected more…well, more."

Kirsty gritted her teeth. Serene opened hers, taking a huge bite of the golden apple. Oberon glared at Serene and scolded, "Those apples are forbidden to eat to everyone except the royal Pegasus. You know that."

Serene swallowed and took another bite. "Okay."

"Serene is a bit… _feisty_ sometimes," said the fairy king to Rachel and Kirsty. "But she is a good scout."

"I prefer the term 'covert operative'," interjected Serene over a mouthful of golden apple.

Oberon ignored her. "She has slipped into Jack Frost's ice castle many times. She will be a valuable resource on your mission."

"Uh, excuse me!" interjected Serene indignantly. "I am _no one's_ resource."

King Oberon turned to Serene with his head cocked inquisitively. "Was there an objection, Serene?"

Normally if a person had been confronted in such a way by the fairy king, who had a reputation for throwing people into the palace moat when angered, they would have backed down. Serene didn't. "Yes, in fact, there was," she said. "You said I'm a _resource_ to these two humans." The word _resource_ was said in the same way that, in the same context, one might say _portable latrine_. "Encarta World English Dictionary's definition of 'resource' is somebody who or something that can be used as a source of help or information."

"Yes, exactly. I meant that you would help."

"Ah, but why did you say help? That is rule number one of working with or for me: I am a loner. I work alone, am absolutely in charge, or don't go at all."

"Emily the Emerald Fairy used up the last of her emerald's seeing magic to predict the outcomes of this mission. Her vision is hazy, but she reported that all foreseen possibilities involve Rachel and Kirsty as important players."

"All?"

"All except three," amended King Oberon. "One ended in the deaths of both you and Titania, the second ended in the death of just you, and the third…she said that she only saw a giant blue explosion. No. Kirsty and Rachel go with you, whether you like it or not."

"In this case it's the latter," snapped Serene. "They wouldn't know what to do if a hyperactive goblin charged them with a spear. I'd rather take my chances with the explosion."

"Kirsty and Rachel have proved their worth many times over," said Oberon firmly. "They have probably saved Fairyland more times in the past seven years than you did in your first seventy years."

Serene sniffed scornfully. "I highly doubt that. If they're so good, why haven't they been officially accepted into full-time Fairyland service? By the blazes, their wings are _temporary! _I'd bet you my spear that they don't even know how to take them off the easy way."

"The reason they have not been accepted is because they have families who remain oblivious," Oberon replied sharply.

Serene blinked twice but said nothing.

"Good," the king said, nodding. "I'm glad you three have reached an agreement. You should leave as soon as you can. Serene shall explain the plan. I shall be inside the palace."

King Oberon turned and strode towards the palace, leaving the two girls alone with Serene. She took a final bite of the apple and tossed the golden core over her shoulder and into the seeing pond.

"Why do you argue with King Oberon?" burst Kirsty before she could think differently. "If I or Rachel did the same thing he'd erase our memories and banish us from Fairyland."

Serene leaned nonchalantly on her steel spear. "That's because everyone else is replaceable. Me, I'm not. No one, not even the freezing Jack Frost himself, knows as much about these magical realms as me. I can slip unseen into the ice king's castle, steal his belt, and slip right out again before he even notices that his pants are falling down. And all while hopping on one foot and eating a bagel."

Rachel snorted. "Yeah, right."

"No really, I recorded it on my iPod, and it actually made Fairyland News the next day as the magical realm's first viral video. I could actually show it to you on the seeing pond, if you want…"

"Maybe later," said Kirsty, though she really wanted to know what pattern Jack Frost had on his boxers. "Weren't we supposed to do something in the ice castle?"

"Yeah, that," said Serene. "Sorry. Kind of attention deficit. So, with the ice castle, here's what I'll –– sorry, _we'll _do. I'll use a cloaking spell on all three of us, and you two will create a diversion in the north tower, drawing the sentries to your position and leaving me an opportunity to dive in and retrieve the subject. We'll rendezvous at –– "

"Whoa!" cried Rachel, throwing up her hands in mock surrender. "Slow down! English, please."

Serene scrutinized her curiously. "This is new for you, isn't it? This kind of mission?"

"This kind of anything," corrected Kirsty.

Serene sighed. "Well, I suppose I'll have to explain. In the past, when you've worked with the other fairies, you've treated Jack Frost like he was eggnog-drunk, correct?"

Kirsty and Rachel just stared at her, their eyes silently asking for a translation.

Serene sighed again. "Like he was stupid?"

Rachel's brow furrowed. "I never really thought about it, but…yeah. I guess. He did fall for some of our plans pretty easily."

"That's the thing. Those 'schemes' of his were never really meant to be the masterstrokes. They were meant to aggravate you, weaken you, draw you in, even eliminate some potential enemies. The real battle started when he kidnapped Titania."

"What's he going to do next?" asked Kirsty.

Serene shifted, sliding her hands down the metal shaft of her spear uncomfortably. "He'll keep her as long as necessary, and once we're weak enough, he'll gather the mass of his goblin army and strike. Frost knows that the majority of the fairies' magic relies heavily on the strength and well-being of Titania. Just to weaken us further, he might even kill her. And while we're mourning, he'll invade and take over."

"Just like that?" inquired Rachel, horrified.

Serene ran her fingernails down the spear shaft. "Just like that. Which is why it's imperative that we get Titania back ASAP. She was taken yesterday, in human time. But for Frost, that's enough to gather the army."

"Well," said Rachel impatiently, "are we going to go or not?"

Serene twirled her spear idly and balanced it over her shoulder. "Not just yet," she said. "It takes a bit more than just luck on your part and extreme stupidity on his part to get inside the ice fortress. For a full-on mission like this, there's more involved.

"To start –– your clothes? You really thought that you were going to invade the ice king's castle in t-shirts and shorts?" At this, Rachel and Kirsty looked down embarrassingly. Neither of them were even wearing shoes. Serene rolled her eyes. "Guess we're doing this the hard way." She muttered some words under her breath, then waved at Rachel and Kirsty. There was a bright flash of light, and when the girls looked back down, they were wearing outfits similar to Serene's, except with gray jeans in place of her brown leggings. They even had black knives just like hers, but no spears.

"That's better," said Serene. "And as for the knives –– they are both tools and weapons. Don't hesitate to use them."

Kirsty drew hers out and examined the blade. This was not the Fairyland she remembered. In her opinion, it was better.

"Another thing," continued Serene. "We'll be traveling under my cloaking spell. Do you think you two can stand being invisible?"

"Invisible?" the two girls repeated.

"I take that as yes," said Serene. "Moving on… here's the plan of action. Instead of the diversion tactic, because you two do not seem capable of such a thing –– "

At which both girls interjected with indignant "Hey!"s, which Serene ignored.

" –– I'll transport us to the castle, and we'll fly up through one of the windows in the main battlement walls. Taking Infiltration Sequence Nine-Three, we'll slip down to the dungeons under the cloaking spell and free the queen. Since I can't transport while we're within enemy boundaries, we'll have to all sneak outside the castle gates before I transport us back here. Kapish?"

Rachel and Kirsty didn't even try to interrupt. They just stared blankly at Serene. The hybrid girl sighed and pressed her knuckles into her forehead. "You follow me. I do the hard work. You say nothing and make no loud noises, otherwise you get a chance to use those daggers of yours."

"Oh," said Rachel and Kirsty in unison, mostly just to annoy Serene.

"So is everything clear?" Serene was obviously very eager to get going. "Can we go now?"

"Not yet," said Rachel. "Can I go to the bathroom?"

"No," replied Serene briefly. Before either of the girls could object, she held out her hand, closed her eyes, and began muttering inaudible words under her breath. A sphere of swirling, sparkling silver magic formed above her palm, floating and spinning. Serene's expression became more concentrated as her lips rapidly repeated the same, short spell over and over. Then the magic exploded in her hand and Rachel and Kirsty were engulfed in silver light. They shut their eyes from the intense brightness and felt themselves suspended in the air, falling through empty space and spinning.

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***yawn* I hate chapter 1. Don't worry, it'll get better. I think.**

**Reviews are love...**


	2. Rescue the Queen!

When the bright light faded, the two girls and the fairy hybrid operative opened up their eyes. They were sitting on the cobblestone road leading through the iron front gate of Jack Frost's castle. The Ice Castle itself loomed forbiddingly over them, its frozen silver spires stretching up into the cloudy gray sky. Goblin guards stood at almost every window and door, holding black spears. The ugly green creatures cast daunting figures with their new weapons, and Kirsty found herself remembering that they hadn't held any kind of weapon on their past adventures.

_It's like what Serene said,_ she mused to herself. _Jack Frost was playing with us before. He's serious now._

It just so happened to be then that one of the aforementioned guards looked straight at Serene, Rachel, and Kirsty. The two girls gasped, and Rachel tried to run, but Serene stopped them both.

"No!" she hissed. "You're _invisible."_

For emphasis, Serene grabbed Rachel's and Kirsty's hands and held them up to their faces. Kirsty saw that she wasn't completely invisible. Her body was glassy and see-through, allowing her a view of whatever was behind it. "Only you and anyone else who's under the same spell can see you in this way," explained Serene, whose body was also transparent. "The guards can't see you, but they can still hear you and feel you. Be careful."

A squad of goblins with spears marched past, and Serene herded Rachel and Kristy out of their way. As the iron front gates opened to allow the goblins in, Serene darted out into the open and followed dangerously close behind the last row of goblins. Rachel and Kirsty hesitated, then Serene turned and motioned with her arm. The message was not unclear. As quietly as they could manage, the two girls followed.

The gates clanged shut behind them, and Serene pulled the two invisible girls behind an ice tower. _Here's what we're going to do,_ an unexpected and strangely familiar voice said in Kirsty's mind. Judging by the strange expression on Rachel's face, she had heard it too. It was Serene's voice, but her mouth hadn't moved.

_This is new for you,_ said Serene's voice, somewhat amused. The expression on Serene's mostly transparent face matched the voice. _Telepathy. Never heard of it?_

"I didn't know it was possible," Kirsty was going to say, but even before she could open her mouth Serene's hand shot forward and clamped it shut.

_They might not be able to see you, but they can still hear you,_ Serene said (thought?). _This is what we'll use to communicate. No need to say anything, all you need to do is find the thread of my thoughts and then project what you want to say into it. Try it._

Kirsty closed her eyes and mentally tried to find Serene's thought thread. It appeared to her almost instantly, a swirling, shifting stream of silver, blue, black. She could sense Rachel's now, which was golden and curling. She projected one thought through these thought threads. _This is so cool._

_ I know,_ replied Rachel's voice through this new form of communication.

_I invented it,_ said Serene scornfully. _It better be cool._

The two girls stared at Serene in a mixture of disbelief and awe. Serene shook her head. _Moving on,_ she said. _Here's what we'll do. See that window in the battlement? We'll all fly up together, but then I'll go in alone while you two hover outside. If it's all clear then you can come in with me. If it's not, then we'll pick a different window. No one does ANYTHING without alerting me beforehand. Capiche?_

_ Capiche,_ the girls replied.

_All right then, _said Serene. _Race you to the top!_ Then, without alerting them, she sprang up and zipped through the air. Rachel and Kirsty fluttered their wings and met her in the air. _I win,_ said Serene smugly.

_You cheated, _accused Rachel.

_Yes, but I won,_ insisted Serene. _Stay here._

She darted over to the window with impossible speed and peered inside. Apparently not seeing anything, she gestured to them and the three girls flew through the window and landed on the floor. They were standing in a hallway, with bored-looking goblin guards slumped against the floors and leaning against the walls. No one saw them, thanks to Serene's cloaking spell.

_ Come on, _called Serene._ I'll lead you to the dungeons. I know a shortcut._

They darted down the hallway, dodging goblins as they slipped by. None of the guards noticed them or even acknowledged their existence as they trotted past. Serene led them through courtyards, down stairs, and past towers. After a time, they found themselves passing through hallways with lower ceilings and no windows.

_We're here, _Serene said. _The dungeons are all underground. I'm not sure which cell Titania is being held in, so we'll have to search all of them._

They tiptoed down the cold, mazelike, and seemingly endless hallways, peering into each of the many cells as they passed. Some were empty. But others held ragged, scrawny figures chained in ice shackles. Many of the prisoners were goblins. _Imprisoned for debt, mostly, _Serene explained. _Some for mutiny, others thievery. And then others failed at missions that Jack Frost gave them._

But they saw some who were not goblins. Once Kirsty saw a small she-elf huddled in a corner, shivering violently. She and Rachel begged Serene to help the skeletal, starving elf, but Serene just shook her head and told them, _The queen first. When she is safe I will send someone to rescue her._

In another cell they saw a small group of bored-looking male sprites playing cards and substituting ice shards for poker chips. Serene just rolled her eyes when she saw them. _They'll survive, _she scoffed.

But just when they were starting to lose hope, they found her. She looked even more bedraggled and forlorn than when Kirsty and Rachel had seen her in their dreams. Her hair had transformed from a beautiful raven black to paper white, and her once-healthy body was thin and scrawny. Serene placed one hand on the lock and closed her eyes in concentration. A few subtle clicks were heard inside the lock before the bars swung open. Serene released the spells she had placed and the girls reappeared.

"Queen Titania!" Serene gasped, rushing forward and grasping the fairy queen's thin, limp hands. "Are you all right?"

The queen inclined her head slowly. "No," she rasped weakly.

Serene unlocked the chains by magically picking the locks once again. The shackles had opened cuts and sores on her wrists, and Serene placed her hands on the wounds, muttering softly. When she lifted them, the wounds were gone.

"Thank you, darling," Titania croaked. "You have released me from the spell." As she spoke she seemed to grow younger; her hair darkening, her wrinkles fading, until she was what she once was. She stood up and looked at Rachel and Kirsty. They lowered themselves into curtseys until Queen Titania declared, "Rise, Rachel and Kirsty, and let us be on our way. There are a great many perils left to face as we leave, and my crown and belongings are still in the possession of Jack Frost. We must make haste. Serene, cast your spell on us. You may find that it is easier to conjure, now that I am free."

Serene did so and soon all four of them were invisible. As they were exiting the cell and preparing to leave the dungeons, Serene's head perked up. _Shh! _she hissed. _I hear a voice! Jack Frost's voice!_

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**Suckin' cliffy, I know. But…whatever. I was trying to imitate the "style" of "Daisy Meadows" for this, seeing as I was writing this mostly for my sister (who is both an ROTG and RM fan).**

**Also, if you're wondering what the bad Jack looks like, it's the dude on the right side of my cover art. APPRECIATE THE COVER ART, PEOPLE! My little sis (same one who requested this story) drew it, and she'll be sad if no one appreciates her two hours of labor. Don't make the child cry. Please. (But I wrote the words, btw. That's my pretty handwriting up there, even though the drawings aren't technically mine...)**

**Review! Tell me what you think is going to happen! Please! Something!**


	3. Rescue, Um, That Other Guy

**Here we get a glimpse of my poor excuse for rhyming poetry…I can't rhyme to save my life… n_n**

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Rachel and Kirsty exchanged a glance nervously. They did not want to meet Jack Frost again. But Serene and Titania boldly sneaked down to a cell at the farthest end of the narrowest and loneliest corridor and peered through the small barred window on the door, which, unlike the others, was mostly solid ice, other than a tiny window, and the only one in this hallway. Rachel and Kirsty followed and almost gasped aloud at the sight they saw.

Jack Frost was inside the cell, along with a thin, pale, barefoot boy. The boy was chained by the wrists in cuffs that opened up cuts in his skin and was suspended upright by a long ice chain that dangled from the ceiling. He seemed about the same age as Serene, somewhere around seventeen or eighteen. His bare feet hardly touched the ground, weighted down by shackles around his skinny ankles. He was dressed in a strange mixture of clothes, with a blue sweatshirt hoodie, ragged brown cross-bound leggings, and a glittering pendant made of a single shard of jagged ice. His tousled hair was as silvery-white as snow and his ice-blue eyes were downcast but defiant. Jack Frost paced slowly around the boy, glaring at him.

"We have a guest," Jack Frost spat. Apparently he did not yet know that Titania was now free. The captive boy said nothing. "And King Oberon and his puny fairy subjects are weak. My powers must be at their prime. You know what is coming, boy."

"I have a name," the boy snapped, his voice colder than even Jack Frost's. "Maybe if you cared enough, you might actually use it."

Jack Frost stopped and caressed the boy's thin, pale face with his long white fingers. "Not anymore, my _brother_," he sneered, spitting out the last word like a curse.

The word hit Rachel, Kirsty, and Serene equally hard. None of them had ever thought that Jack Frost would ever have a brother –– certainly not one as young and handsome as the boy in the blue sweatshirt. Titania showed no sign of surprise and simply watched the encounter calmly.

The boy was speaking again. "You have gone too far," he said icily. "You were never meant to be here."

"Silence!" Jack Frost roared. He slammed his palm into the boy's chest and snarled a spell.

"_Though time passes quickly_

_and magic fades fast_

_the power of Jack shall eternally last._

_With this spell of extraction_

_I take his power and magic_

_And use them for cruelty_

_and conquerings tragic."_

As he spoke these words the boy's entire body began to glow with a pale blue light, and Jack Frost's hand seemed to suck every particle of glowing energy out of his captive.

_He is drawing energy from the boy, _Titania explained to the girls through telepathy. _I endured the same torture when Jack Frost gained my power of magic sight. It draws from the life-form energy and power. But what kind of power, I wonder?_

_ And why did he talk about himself and his eternally lasting power in the third person?_ Serene asked, but the words were half-hearted, as if something else was distracting her that she chose not to reveal through her public thoughts.

The boy screamed in pain and went limp, the ice shackles cutting into his wrists. Jack Frost withdrew his hand from the boy's chest and the glow faded. He seemed taller, more powerful somehow. He drew a knife and sliced through the boy's chains, dissolving the ice and dropping his limp body to the ground. The ice king laughed cruelly and left the unconscious boy crumpled on the floor, turning on his heel and pushing open the cell door. The four fairies managed to press their bodies against the wall just in time. Kirsty and Rachel's hearts started to pound as they came within inches of the ice king, but they said nothing and pressed farther against the wall. Jack Frost locked the cell door with a key carved of ice and strode down the hallway, cackling harshly.

_Do you remember when I asked if I could go to the bathroom right before we left?_ Rachel thought.

_Yeah, _Serene replied. _Why?_

_ I don't have to go anymore._

Serene held Rachel's eyes in her calm gaze. _You know what, I'm not even going to ask._

_ If we could get back to the more important subjects, _Queen Titania said impatiently. _Like ––_

_What will we do? _Kirsty interrupted. _Once Jack Frost sees that Queen Titania is free he will come looking, and then we'll be in even bigger danger._

_ I have searched his mind,_ Titania told them. _He does not plan to visit my cell in the near future. Right at this moment he is occupied with the subject of organizing his goblin armies for an attack on Fairyland. He is getting ambitious, certainly. We must warn Oberon and the other fairies._

_ But what about the boy? _Serene inquired. _Who is he and HOW IS HE RELATED TO THAT SON OF AN ICEPOP?!_

_ I do not know, _Queen Titania admitted. _Although, something tells me that the subject is one that we should know but have been forced to forget._

_ Well ARE WE GOING TO GET HIM OUT OF THAT MEAT LOCKER OR NOT? _Serene shouted silently.

_It is best that we do not, _Titania replied. _Oberon needs to be warned of the oncoming attack. We must leave swiftly._

_ Not without that kid,_ Serene argued. _There's something about him that we should know and I'm not going anywhere until I know what that is._

_ I have tried reading his mind, _the queen pointed out, _and it is well guarded, even as he sleeps. What little I can see is cold, dark, and confusing. He would be a formidable enemy and I fear that Jack Frost would force him to fight against us._

_ What about that one saying…how does it go…"The enemy of my enemy is my friend"? What about that? And it's clear that he's the enemy of our enemy, or at least a very unwelcome guest. I can't leave him here. If you would like to warn Oberon, go ahead. I'm not leaving this igloo until I find out everything I want to know about that boy. And I have a feeling that to find those things, I'll have to set him free._

_ You will be needed back at the palace,_ the queen pointed out. _You are Fairyland's best military commander and most important tactical planner._

_ I'm flattered, but no, _Serene replied brusquely. _My second-in-command, Bianca, can do that. Rachel, will you go with the queen back to the Fairy Palace?_

_ Sure, _she answered, _but what about Kirsty?_

_ She will stay with me. I believe that she will aid me in helping him escape. Kirsty, will you stay?_

_ Yes, Serene._

_ Good, _Serene said. _Clear skies and fair magic to you, Queen Titania and Rachel. I shall return with my answers._

_ Fair magic to you, too, Serene and Kirsty, _the queen replied before waving her hand and disappearing in a burst of purple fairy dust, taking Rachel with her. Kirsty and Serene were left alone.

Serene waved her hand and they were released from the invisibility spell. Then she placed her palm on the lock and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. Kirsty heard several clicks, then the locked door swung open. The girls entered and Kirsty gazed around the room in awe. The solid ice walls were coated in lacy frost, which was patterned in designs and pictures. The ceiling was about twenty feet high, higher than other cell ceilings, but there were pictures even up there. But Serene didn't seem to care about any of this. She dashed into the prison cell without marveling at the frost designs, laying her spear aside, slipping her arms under the boy's body, and cradling his head in her hands.

"As I healed the queen from her bond of captivity," she whispered softly, "so heal this boy from his enchantment of imprisonment."

As Kirsty watched, the boy's face started to glow with a silver-blue light. The wounds from the cuffs knit themselves together and healed without a trace. He breathed deeply and lay still. Serene placed her hand on his thin, pale cheek and brushed a stray lock of his white hair away from his face gently, almost lovingly. "Please."

Then, as if the word freed him, the boy shuddered and coughed. His bright blue eyes flicked open and he stared at Serene in confusion.

"I see angels," he muttered. "Did he finally do it? Did he kill me?"

Serene smiled gratefully. "No, you're not dead," she replied. "And we're not angels. But thanks anyway. We're getting you out of here."

"Who are you?" the boy asked, blinking in confusion.

"My name is Serene," she replied, "and this is Kirsty."

"Hi," interjected Kirsty.

"You look familiar," the boy said, ignoring Kirsty and examining Serene. "I just can't seem to place it. Ah, never mind."

"But who_ are_ you?" inquired Kirsty.

"You don't…know?" he asked doubtfully.

"I heard that you're Jack Frost's brother," she answered honestly.

"I'm not Jack Frost's brother," he replied in confusion. "I can't be."

Serene furrowed her brow quizzically. "Why not?"

"I'm not his brother," the boy explained slowly, "because _I'm_ Jack Frost."

* * *

**Ha ha, this is how we roll! Enter the awesome stuff! Next chapter is little filler so I can get my thoughts together on the one after that. It's still all messed up, because my computer was being all moody one day while I was doing my big edits and all I have left now is my first draft. *blows raspberry***

**Did my poem-spell-thingy suck?**

**Review pwetty pwease…**


	4. Battle Preparations

**Enter filler chapter...at least, I think it would be considered a filler...but it's kind of important anyway. So R&R.**

* * *

Queen Titania and Rachel landed in the middle of the Fairyland Palace throne room. Several of the fairies shrieked in terror until they recognized them. King Oberon stood up and rushed to his wife, hugging her tightly.

"I was so worried," he said. "Where are Serene and Kirsty?"

Titania retreated from the embrace. "Serene…got carried away again," she answered. "She wanted to rescue one of Jack Frost's captives. I think she thought he was…what's that word the kids use these days…"

"Hot?" Rachel suggested. "Cute? Handsome?"

"Any of those could substitute," Titania said, "but a better word might be 'interesting'. In any case, she disobeyed orders and stayed behind to rescue this boy. You have to get her under control, Oberon. And now we're left without our best military general!"

"Why would we need a general?" Oberon inquired. "Oh no, you don't mean…"

"Yes," Titania said, as if reading his thoughts, which she probably was. "I do mean. Jack Frost has decided to deal the final blow, thinking that I am still imprisoned and our fairies are weakened. We must prepare for battle."

"Who shall command in place of Serene?" the fairy king asked.

"Serene said that her second-in-command will lead," she replied. "Is Bianca available?"

"Very," a crisp, clear voice said. And out from the throngs of fairies fluttered a lovely young woman. She was slender, appeared college-aged, and was dressed just like Serene, but that was where the similarities ended. The girl was tall and slender, with keen gray eyes and long honey-blond hair. There was an archer's bow and a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder and a short, thin sword at her belt. "Bianca is definitely available," she said. "What are your commands, Your Highnesses?"

"Send out spies and scouts to check up on the status of Jack Frost's goblin armies," Titania ordered. "Then muster all fighting fairies and hide the ones unable to fight in the emergency bunkers. Any strategists and armorers you have should get to work immediately."

"Yes, Your Highness," Bianca said, curtseying. Then she glanced at Rachel. "Oh," she said, seeing right through the wings that were her poor disguise. "A human. New recruit?"

"No," Titania replied sharply. "Rachel is only a temporary trainee. Take her along with you."

Bianca raised one dainty eyebrow, then Titania, noticing the gesture, continued, "Serene sends her recommendations."

Those four words did the trick. Bianca's face was wiped clean of any discrimination and she said, "Of course, Your Highness. Come, Rachel."

Rachel had no choice but to follow.

* * *

**Reviews are love...**


	5. The Real Jack Frost (NOT Jason)

Serene and Kirsty exchanged a nervous glance. Then the gray-clad fairy laughed. She stopped when she saw the serious look on the boy's face. "Oh, you were serious?" she breathed. "You have to be kidding me. Jack Frost is that pointy icepop who just…how do you say this nicely…knocked you out cold."

"He's my brother," the second Jack confirmed.

"But you just said that he _wasn't_ your brother," Kirsty implied.

"He is," the boy sniffed. _"I'm_ the real Jack Frost. That was my brother, Jason Frost."

Serene's smile faded. "So the Jack Frost that we've been battling ever since fairies learned magic was actually named _Jason _and never corrected us?"

Jack shook his head. "It's not like that. I'll show you." He stood up and held out his hand, and from his hand he summoned a long, gnarled staff, which was coated with a light layer of lacy white frost. "Look." He gestured to a smooth slab of ice on the floor and touched the surface with the hooked end of his staff, much like how King Oberon would do to the golden seeing pool in the palace gardens. The ice frosted over, and then the lacy frost cleared and showed a lovely picture –– Fairyland Palace, with a party set up in the largest courtyard. Dozens of fairies, elves, sprites, and even some humans in fairy form joyfully frolicked and danced to the music. They were clothed in old-fashioned attire, similar to the elaborate outfits of rich colonial-era merchants. Kirsty even saw some familiar faces, except that their hairstyles and clothes had changed. The image even showed King Oberon and Queen Titania standing nearby –– but this king and queen were happy and young, without even the slightest trace of worry on their youthful faces.

"There was never a party such as this," Serene interrupted. "Not in all the time I have served Fairyland and its people, and even before then."

"This happened before you came," Jack whispered. "No one except Jason and I have memory of these things and these times, exactly two hundred and ninety years ago. What memories they do have are twisted and changed."

Then they saw an unexpected sight –– the wind started to blow, and snowflakes started to dance on the air. The fairies in the courtyard looked up in surprise. Then, on a gust of wind, Jack Frost –– the young-looking one –– soared into the courtyard, riding on the gusts of wind without wings. He held his hooked wooden staff but wore, instead of a blue sweatshirt, an old-fashioned short brown cape over a cream-colored tunic, along with his ragged cross-bound leggings. And still no shoes. He landed in front of the fairy king and queen in a flurry of ice crystals, coating the pavement that touched his bare feet in feathery frost.

"Jack Frost," King Oberon greeted evenly, a hard note in his voice.

Kirsty reflected grimly that whenever Fairyland rulers said the name like that, things were about to get messy.

Then a large grin spread across the king's face and he added, "Fashionably late, for now and forevermore. You set a new record today. Tell me, Jack, what is the reason of your unnatural tardiness?"

Jack glanced around furtively at the party of fairies and turned back to the king. "I must speak with you alone." The slightest tinge of a formal English accent was noticeable when he spoke, but neither Serene nor Kirsty heard it in the present-day Jack's voice.

King Oberon nodded and walked with Jack out of the courtyard and into the gardens. Once they were alone, he asked again, "What is the reason for your discomfort, Jack?"

"My brother is stirring," Jack replied. "He is changing for the worse. He is unsatisfied that I simply made him a captain of my snow-elven army. He is spreading treason among my men; stirring them, convincing them to take his side. I must do something to prevent him, but what? Please, tell me, Oberon. I may be far past my appeared age, but I am still young by immortals' standards."

"I would first address the matter of why you have an army in the first place," the wise king answered with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Why the caution? Why the uncertainty? Our two kingdoms have been at peace ever since you inherited the throne. All you are doing is creating more work for you to do."

"Yes, but Jason says there are unknown threats out there, waiting for a chance to strike," Jack persisted, "and I feel in my heart that there will be trouble soon. The armies of snow-elves were his idea, but I feel that, for good or ill, they will have their uses."

"I do not trust this…Jason you speak of," King Oberon said. "He is hiding something. I feel that he is jealous."

"Of what?" Jack inquired scornfully. "What more could he want? I give him his rights. He is an influential captain in my army. He has riches beyond comprehension. I have even given him limited powers of my own."

"All of which he could use against you," the ruler interrupted. "Don't you see? Your own brother is conspiring against you. He wishes to have complete control. He's jealous of you, Jack Frost, because even though you were both given immortality at birth, you received power and the throne and he was given about as much power as a human. The 'unknown threats' he speaks of come from inside your very palace. You need to get him under control, otherwise you will be forced to exile or kill him."

Jack stopped walking altogether and faced the fairy king defiantly. "I cannot do that," he declared. "Like it or not, he is my brother."

"A brother whom will slip out of control lest you restrain him," Oberon said.

Jack nodded slowly and hesitantly, then he stiffened. A cold, hard voice, like a knife scraping over ice, could be heard. Oberon showed no sign of noticing anything. "Jack, my brother," the voice cackled, "come back to the palace. There is trouble stirring among the snow-elves now that you have left. Please hurry."

"I'll be there, Jason!" Jack shouted. "Just hold your icicles, sheesh. A guy can't even take a break without people banging down his door."

"What was that?" King Oberon asked.

"Just Jason shouting at me from across realms," Jack grumbled, sounding more and more like his present-day self with every word. "I…I have to go."

He started to run down the cobblestone path, jumping up into the air and letting the winds carry him. "Jack!" King Oberon called to the boy scrambling through the air. "Beware!"

The image changed and the beautiful, spiraling pink towers of Fairyland Palace were replaced by the glittering silver spires of Jack Frost's ice castle. It somehow seemed brighter and prettier, as if Jack himself transformed the place. The goblin guards had been replaced by tall, elegant figures in snow-white armor –– snow-elves, Kirsty guessed. Jack soared over the gates, through the front door, and didn't stop flying until he reached the throne room, where Jason Frost and a few dozen armed snow-elves stood waiting.

Jack landed on the icy floor, coating it with an extra layer of ice. "What do you want now, Jason? What was so freezing important that you couldn't wait two hours until I came back?"

Jason bowed to his brother as the young ice prince strode forward towards his throne. "My _lord,"_ he spat, laying contempt in the title, "it has been decided."

Jack's steps stopped and he whirled around to face his brother. "What?"

"It has been decided," continued Jason icily, "that you are unfit to be lord of winter. Hand the crown to me and we shall do this before any…unpleasant and permanent actions can be dealt."

Jack lunged forward lithely and held the hook of his staff a few inches from the captain's chest. "You are speaking treason."

"I deserve to be the rightful ruler of Fairyland," Jason snarled. "I am not naïve, arrogant, and ignorant. I am a true leader. Hand me your staff, my brother, and give me your power."

Jack stared into his brother's face defiantly and gripped his staff tighter. "Never."

Jason inclined his head haughtily and stared down his long, thin nose at his brother. "So be it," he stated calmly.

Then, at an unobtrusive signal from Jason Frost, two snow-elves grabbed Jack and wrestled the staff from his hand. The staff clattered to the ground, but Jack held out one hand to the weapon and yelled, _"Acht mehn latraiel!"_ The staff turned glassy and transparent, like ice, before melting into the floor. The snow-elves managed control over Jack, but no one seemed to care that he had purposely destroyed his only weapon.

"I did that on purpose," the real-world Jack whispered to Serene and Kirsty. "I cast a spell in an ancient language that hides my weapon so that I can retrieve it again."

Serene and Kirsty refocused their eyes back to the ice mirror. In the confusion, Jason stepped up to the ice throne and sat upon it. A snow-elf placed an ice crown on his head. The other snow-elves grabbed two pairs of ice-carved handcuffs and clapped them around Jack's wrists and ankles, shoving him to his knees before Jason. Jack struggled to break the chains, but they were protected by magic.

"How we see the mighty ice prince fall," Jason smiled, but the smile never reached his eyes. They were as cold and hard as ice.

"You will pay for this treachery," Jack grunted, cringing from the sharp pain in his ribs, caused by the rough treatment of the snow-elves.

Jason's cold, merciless grin grew wider. "To whom? To you? To the fairies? You shall never see daylight or taste power again, and the fairies will know you no longer. As we speak any memories of the peace and friendship between the mighty Ice Kingdom and their precious Fairyland are diminishing from every fairy's mind. Even the humans will be affected, no longer knowing Jack Frost as a flying, fun-loving boy with a stick. They shall know Jack Frost to be cold and heartless, unforgiving and merciless, someone to be feared and respected. I shall conquer Fairyland and no one shall stand against me."

"You plan on stealing my identity," Jack concluded. "But how can one become a king without the powers of one? Without me you have no one to give your powers to you."

Jason stood up from his throne and knelt down so that their eyes were level. "That is where you come in, brother," he elaborated, tilting Jack's chin upwards with his bony finger.

His captive jerked his head away. "You're not my brother anymore," he choked out. "I don't know you."

Jason hesitated. A flicker of emotion flashed in his icy eyes –– but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared. "So be it, then," he said.

Then he slammed his palm into Jack's stomach, muttering a familiar-sounding spell under his breath. As she and Serene watched the horrible scene, Kirsty felt a flash of déjà vu. They knew what would happen next. Jason's hand started to glow, along with Jack's entire body, and Jason sucked every particle of power and energy out of the boy until his screams stopped and he went limp. Jason dropped Jack to the floor and stood up, cupping his white hand towards the ceiling. A small whirlwind of ice crystals formed above his palm and, slightly amazed, he marveled, "It works."

Then, in a louder voice, he said to the unconscious Jack Frost, "Prepare yourself, boy. Many more of these sessions shall follow."

Then, around him, the snow-elves started to change. Their hair fell out, their skin started to change to an ugly greenish color, and their noses and faces morphed into twisted, oblong forms. The snow-elves had transformed into goblins!

Jason seemed a little startled at the transformation, but then waved his hand in the air and said, "A small price to pay for my new powers. Take our captive to the dungeons."

The image faded. Kirsty, Serene, and Jack were left alone in the icy cell. "My last words still haunt him," Jack whispered. "The guilt brought on by them has restrained him from doing anything too…extreme."

"I can't believe it," Serene exhaled, sitting back on her heels. "This all makes sense. Jason figured out how to steal powers from someone who has them. You know what this means? He could have done this at any time in the war, just kidnap fairies and steal their powers. I can't believe he didn't do it before."

"Wait," Kirsty interjected, "I don't get it."

"What do you not get?" Jack inquired calmly.

"Serene," Kirsty said, "don't you remember when the seven jewels of Queen Titania's crown were stolen?"

Serene sighed. "Don't even think about it. It gives me bad, bad flashbacks. I wasn't there, but what I was doing at the time was twice as disturbing."

"Well," she continued, "when Queen Titania showed us how they were stolen, we saw an image of Jack Frost –– I mean, Jason –– recharging his wand in the flow of magic from the crown."

"And…?" Jack prompted.

"And Queen Titania told me that he was recharging his own magic," she said slowly. "Just…why was he doing that when he has you? If you're always producing more energy, couldn't he have just gone down here and recharged his power using you?"

Jack was silent for a moment before asking, "When was this?"

"I was eight," Kirsty replied truthfully. "That would be…six years ago."

"I remember now," he replied. "That was the week after I had escaped. I was hiding for a full seven days before Jason noticed that I was gone. He had just gone in for his annual charge-up and saw that I wasn't in my cell. So he just stole another source of energy. He caught me the next day."

"Why didn't you escape?" Serene asked. "Just use your power over the wind, fly right out a window and come back later for revenge. It's what I would have done."

"I couldn't," Jack argued.

"Couldn't escape? Why?" Serene challenged.

"I can't leave," Jack stuttered, averting his eyes. "I physically can't. Jason put a curse on me that as long as he is alive, I can't step foot outside the castle gates. Ever."

Serene narrowed her eyes determinedly. "Well, then we'll have to make sure that we reverse that before we make our narrow escape."

Then a flash of movement caught their eyes. "Jack, it's not done!" Kirsty gasped, pointing to the ice.

The new image was nothing like the others. They saw a dark-haired young woman, wearing nothing but a faded, old-fashioned nightgown, sitting upright on a bed in a small log cabin. "Oh, my baby," she crooned sweetly. "Oh, my little Serene."

Beside her, Serene gasped. "That's…me! That's my mother!"

The image shimmered again and changed. Serene appeared the same age as she was in present-day real life, but her clothes were different. She wore a light gray tunic and a dark gray cloak, with white woolen leggings and black leather riding boots. She held a small silver dagger in her left hand. She was sneaking through the halls of the dungeons, searching for something…or someone. She rounded a corner and saw them in an icy cell.

Her mother was shivering in her torn dress. Her father had his arms wrapped around his wife and a small boy was huddled between them –– Serene's brother. They were all scared and bewildered, but they appeared even more so when they noticed Serene.

"Serene!" her father cried. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting you out of here," Serene replied boldly.

Then, all of sudden, Jason Frost materialized in front of her. Serene summoned a swirling ball of silver magic in her right hand and aimed it at the ice king. "Stay back, Icicle Face. You don't know what you're dealing with."

Jason only laughed. "You really think so? Try me and your family may be spared."

Serene yelled a battle cry and blasted her ready missile of silver magic, but Jason froze it mid-air. Before Serene could summon another one, Jason had grabbed her mother and held her in a chokehold.

"Make a single move, and she dies," Jason threatened.

"Serene," her mother pleaded, "go."

"Mother!" Serene cried, just as the real-life Serene shouted, "Jack! Do something! Stop it!"

Jack lifted his staff and smashed it against the ice. The image froze, then faded as the ice cracked under the force of the blow. Serene was holding her head in her hands. "No, no, no," she sobbed. "That's not what I wanted to see. Jack, why did you do that?"

"I didn't!" he protested, blue eyes wide. "I don't know _what_ did that."

Kirsty tentatively placed one hand on her new friend's arm. "Hey," she encouraged kindly. "It's okay. Is that how you lost your family?"

"Don't touch me!" the usually calm girl snarled, pushing Kirsty's arm away angrily. Kirsty was startled to see a wild, feral glint in Serene's eyes and backed away slowly. Then Serene noticed the fear and surprise in the younger girl's face and lowered her head. "I'm sorry. It's just that…I've been trying to forget what happened all those years ago and now the memories just…broke free."

"Serene," Jack comforted. "I know how you feel. I've been trying to forget too. What it felt like…to lose Gabriella."

"Gabriella?" Kirsty repeated. "You mean…the snow kingdom fairy?"

Jack nodded sadly. "She was my betrothed," he said softly, staring down at the ice and forming small pictures with frost with his fingertip. "Promised to me from birth by King Oberon and Queen Titania. They thought that our marriage would strengthen the bond between our kingdoms. As she grew I started to love her more and more. The day that Jason took the throne…that was the eve of our wedding day. Gabriella was modeling her wedding gown for her servants when I was taken captive. They took her too, but they erased her memories of me and turned her against Jason –– and me. They released her back into Fairyland, but only as a reminder that Jason, or Jack Frost as they now knew him, can do what he likes with fairies. Now if we ever meet again, and even if it's after my identity is cleared, she will see no one except the tyrant who plagued her home for nearly three centuries. And even if we do recover her memories, she will never look at me the same. She'll never love me again."

"There's still someone who loves you," Serene insisted hastily, without thinking.

Jack looked up. "Who?"

Serene opened her mouth, as if to reply, but then quickly shut it and shook her head. "What was I saying?" she scolded herself under her breath.

"What?" the ice prince inquired in confusion.

"Never mind," Serene amended, getting up quickly and retrieving her spear. "It was nothing. Come on, let's get you out of here before Jack –– I mean, Jason Frost finds out that the queen is missing."

Hastily they got up and followed Serene, who was already at the door. When she opened it a blinding swirl of ice and snow blasted through and rendered them helpless for a few seconds, until Jack took his staff and halted the small blizzard. When the snow cleared, in the doorway they saw a tall, stick-thin figure, followed by a group of green, pointy-eared goblins with spears.

"Jason," all three of them said at once.

* * *

**LOOOOOONNNNG chapter, eh?**

**First hints of Jackerene...hehehehehe...let's see if that grows into anything, huh?**

**Just to clear something up: there is very little ROTG canon in this. VERY little. Jack is pretty much it. And even then, he's kind of OOC and has a few other powers...I'm sorry! I was just too lazy to rewrite this...bleh.**


	6. Taking the Shot

Jack gripped his staff. Serene touched her wings with her fingertip and purposely caused them to disappear. _Fighting style,_ she told Kirsty through telepathy. _Don't know if_ you've _ever tried fighting with those bulky wings dragging from your back._

"Hello, brother," Jack said in a mock-courteous manner. "I believe you've met Kirsty and Serene."

Serene gripped her spear and stepped in front of Kirsty protectively. Jason inclined his head, looking down his long, thin nose at the determined girl distastefully, and replied, "Yes, I believe I have. The last time we met she tied a firecracker to my cape."

"Good times, good times," Serene replied coldly. "But those times are over. I'm going to make you pay for what you've done to Jack."

The tyrant smiled coldly. "So you know. I wonder if you also know of our visitor's unexpected absence?"

"No," Jack lied.

"What visitor?" Serene denied.

"Queen Titania," Kirsty replied. "You forgot?"

Serene facepalmed.

"Kirsty!" Jack groaned.

"Come on, let's get out of here before Kirsty's unharnessable tongue causes anymore damage," Serene said, holding one hand out in front of her.

Jason pointed one icy finger at the trio just as a small silver explosion blasted up from Serene's palm. Kirsty knew what this did. She glanced down at her hand and saw that it was glassy and see-through. She was invisible again, along with Jack and Serene. Jason Frost and his goblins started in surprise. The goblins in the front row were the first to act. They gripped their spears just as Serene yelled, "Duck and roll!" Instinctively Kirsty did as she was told and dived forward in a somersault just as a goblin drove his spear point through the air where she had been standing just a moment before.

Kirsty scrambled up and ran after the almost-transparent Serene. Jack followed and deflected with his staff any blasts of ice Jason randomly aimed, leaping off the walls and ceilings with casual, effortless agility. They were faster runners than the goblins, who showed nothing of their former lives as agile snow-elves as they tripped over their own feet. Serene led them down a side corridor and herded them into a broom closet, shutting the door behind them and illuminating the darkness with a silvery-gold ball of flame from her hand. Jack gasped and scrambled away from the light, backing against the icy wall and gripping his staff tightly. "Whoa, that –– that's _fire!_ If you haven't noticed, I'm the _ICE PRINCE!_"

"It's all right," laughed Serene. "It won't do you any harm. It's called a werelight. The flame doesn't burn or melt anything it's not supposed to."

The former ice prince relaxed and stared at the werelight. Serene suspended it in the air above their heads with magic and dropped her hands to her side, leaving the light bobbing above their heads.

"Okay," she said, "here's what we're going to do. We all have something we need to achieve. I need to retrieve the queen's belongings. Jack, you need to kill your brother so you can escape. Kirsty, you need to stay alive."

"Kill my brother?" Jack echoed.

"Can I go with Jack?" Kirsty asked at the exact same time.

"Yes," Serene replied to Jack, "and no," to Kirsty. "Each of you need to do your jobs. Kirsty, why couldn't I have sent you back with Rachel and Titania when I had the chance? And Jack, there's no way you're ever going to see daylight again if you don't get rid of your brother. Does he have any weaknesses that you know of?"

"I can make a list," he replied arrogantly. "Although half of them also apply to me."

"Good," Serene nodded. "Use those against him and divert his attention while Kirsty and I retrieve the queen's belongings, which are in the north tower treasury. If you can kill him, all the better. But if not, get out of there and rendezvous at the south corridor and stay hidden. My invisibility spell won't last long. When we split up I'll have to release it because it doesn't work from long distances. So stay hidden and in the event that any of us are captured, the rest of us will try to rescue the other while they try to escape in any way they can. Any questions?"

Kirsty and Jack exchanged a blank glance. Then Jack turned back to Serene and raised his hand, asking, "Um, can you say that again? And this time, not in fast forward."

"You had fast forward in the seventeen hundreds?" Kirsty inquired sarcastically.

"No. Just because I was in prison doesn't mean I couldn't see what was happening outside. I used the ice mirror to catch up with the world. Plus I have secret friends. That's where I got the hoodie, if you're wondering."

"Jack, I don't think any of us care," Serene interjected. "No offense, but I really think that we all have better things to do than listen to you prattle on about clothes. Seriously. You both know what I said and understood it."

"Yes Serene," the other two mumbled.

"Now do we have any real questions that involve the actual mission? No? Okay, we should go. Jack, remember to stay hidden. My spell won't work from long distances."

Then she extinguished her werelight, stood up, and flung open the door. Some of the goblins who had been tramping through the hallways slammed into the outward opening door and cried out indignantly. Serene and Jack leaped, Jack blasting and freezing them with his staff, Serene slamming the shaft of her spear into their heads and knocking them out cold. When all was clear, Kirsty cried, "You killed them!" She had never liked goblins in the first place, but killing them…that was a little extreme.

Serene's eyebrow was raised in a question until she noticed the limp goblins on the floor. "Oh, them?" she inquired with a laugh. "They're not dead, they're unconscious. They'll be alive and kicking in less than twenty minutes. Now let's move."

Jack took off sprinting down the left corridor while Kirsty and Serene took the right. Kirsty and Serene were still invisible but Kirsty noticed Serene mumbling under her breath and releasing Jack from the invisibility spell as they ran.

They burst out of the dungeons and into the main palace, unnoticed except for one confused goblin guard who saw the door open by itself. Serene led her to the north tower treasury and swung open the door to the room. As she did she released her and Kirsty's invisibility so that they were fully visible to the goblins in the treasury.

"Fairies!" a captain shouted. "Get them!"

Serene held out her right palm and started chanting a spell. A swirling silver sphere formed and leapt out of her hand, barreling into the nearest goblin. There was an explosion of bright light, then, when the light dimmed, Kirsty could see that every one of the goblins in the tower had fallen to the ground, unconscious.

"Nice work," Kirsty complimented.

"It looks impressive, but it doesn't last long," Serene dismissed casually. "Now let's find Titania's stuff."

There were tables and tables heaped high with various items. Kirsty thought it looked kind of like a very strange yard sale. She scanned the piles of treasures, looking for Titania's crown, necklace, and robes.

"Hey!" Serene exclaimed all of a sudden.

Kirsty's head shot up. "Did you find something?"

"Yeah," she replied. "This super cute headband! I'm keeping it."

"Never mind," Kirsty said, returning to her search.

Serene was the first to find something of the queen's. She found the crown and told Kirsty to search the table she had found it on. Then she went to loot through a pile of girls' items. By the time Kirsty had found everything, Serene had added to her collection a scarf, four bracelets, another headband, two t-shirts, three daggers, a sword, a recent-model cell phone, seven switchblades, and fifty-one Silly Bands. "I should come here more often," she remarked.

"Those aren't yours," Kirsty argued. "Put them back."

"You're right," Serene agreed. "They're not mine. They're Jack –– Jason's, and it's a well-known rule that anything that's his is free game for me. I'm keeping them."

"It just doesn't seem right," Kirsty said. "This stuff used to be other people's –– ooh! Cute skirt!" She snatched up a purple pleated skirt and eyed it.

"That's the spirit," Serene encouraged.

Then the door flew open. Goblins swarmed through the doorway and towards the two girls. Serene held her spear aloft and leaped forward with a battle cry. Then Kirsty saw something. A goblin stood to the side, holding an archer's bow. Serene didn't notice him. He drew his bow back, preparing to fire at her.

"Serene! Watch out!" Kirsty screamed, grabbing the nearest thing she could find and hurling it at the goblin archer. The hairbrush that Kirsty had grabbed and thrown hit the goblin right on his large green nose. He recoiled and involuntarily released the arrow. Thanks to Kirsty's warning, Serene ducked into and the arrow zipped right through the air above her, barely brushing through a stray lock of her hair. Serene was safe, but the arrow tore through the air on a path right towards Kirsty! The arrow pierced her stomach and sent Kirsty stumbling. Serene spun around as Kirsty fell to her knees, the arrowhead buried in her torso. Fresh blood stained her vest. Uncomprehendingly, she stared at her somehow painless wound, sliding the arrow out of her body and falling forward.

"Kirsty!" Serene screamed, rushing towards the girl and catching her in her arms. Kirsty was barely breathing, tears falling from her eyes. The world started to swirl into silver-gray fog. So this is what it feels like to die, she thought dully. She was strangely content with the fact.

Wasting no time, Serene placed her hand on Kirsty's wound. She started to mutter a spell under her breath, one that only she could hear. Then, as she started to speak, the otherwise-fatal wound started to knit itself together. The blood that stained her vest faded and poured back into the wound. As Serene muttered under her breath, Kirsty's wound healed completely, leaving nothing but a small tear in her vest the length of a goblin's arrowhead.

But even as Kirsty was healed, Serene continued to whisper. Then Kirsty realized they were not spells, but words! _"That is your purpose, child," _Serene whispered, her voice amplified to Kirsty through her thoughts. _"Without you, I might be dead. Now repay me and save yourself. Hide in the place that will not be searched…"_

Then, as Serene's palm lifted off Kirsty's chest, Kirsty began to shrink. She was now fairy size _to_ a fairy! Now she understood what Serene's words meant. She was healed! She could escape! Leaping into the air she fluttered out of the room as fast as her wings would allow her. Several of the goblins chased after her. Then Serene leaped up. Her energy was severely depleted from trying to heal Kirsty's almost-fatal wound. Her movements were slow and sluggish, and when trying to parry an overhead strike from a goblin's spear, her spear was knocked out of her hand. A goblin shoved her to her knees and clamped a pair of ice cuffs around her wrists. Serene summoned the magic to break the chains, but the magic would not come to her. Try as she might, she could not use magic. Realizing what happened, she swore like a sailor. The handcuffs that she wore were the magic-proof kind. They restricted the wearer from using any kind of magic whatsoever and any wounds caused by them stripped the wearer of her ability to use magic, even after the cuffs were off, until the wounds healed completely or were healed by another source of magic. She hated these things. They were the kinds of new-fangled devices that Jason was forever dreaming up and she was forever trying to sabotage.

The goblin captain decided that her profanity was enough. He took a makeshift gag and slipped it over her mouth, reducing her shouts to angry, unintelligible grunts. Directing his underlings to make her stand, they took her, struggling and defiant, to Jason's throne room.

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**Lalalalala...**

**review...**


	7. Duel and Sacrifice

**Hey there my lovely readers! Sooooo sorry that I didn't update yesterday…my mom declared a family-wide Do-Productive-Things Day. The only time that I had alone (and was NOT cleaning the toilets, involuntarily exercising, and/or ruining my smooth pale complexion by pulling weeds out in the stupid garden) I spent either eating a meal or going to the bathroom. That's how much free time I had yesterday. (I did have time to update Dear Fanfiction Writers though…but that was because I did it on my iPhone and during a bathroom break…)**

**Well, today my mom's at work so my chore schedule is relatively free. (Even though right now I'm technically supposed to be folding laundry.) So that being said, I will shut up now and enter in the chapter.**

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Jack knew that the place to find his haughty, stuck up brother was in the place he was most often –– the throne room. He directed the winds carefully, so that the goblin guards wouldn't notice a change in the breeze, and stayed above their lines of sight, darting through the shadows near the ceilings of the high hallways. He knew a shortcut inside the throne room, which he had discovered centuries ago. He wiggled through the hole near the ceiling and slipped into the room, balancing precariously on an icy ledge on the wall. Jason was indeed down there, talking to some of his goblin officials. Jack waited, peering out from under the hood of his jacket. Then, when all of the goblin captains had left, Jack leapt from the high ledge and landed noiselessly on his bare feet. Jason's back was turned towards him. Jack grinned mischievously as he leaned casually against a pillar and said, "What's up?" Jason spun around, a delighted, almost insane snarl fixed on his face.

"I knew you would come," Jason snapped. The goblin guards beside the door gripped their spears and advanced towards Jack, but Jason commanded them, "Return to your posts. This is my fight," and pointed one bony finger towards Jack. Jack knew what was coming. He easily dodged the blast of ice and lightning Jason sent towards him and landed lithely on the other side of the room, retaliating swiftly with a countering blast of ice and lighting. Jason was thrown back by the force, but quickly jumped back up.

"You've gotten slow, old man," Jack teased, leaning leisurely on his staff.

Jason yelled and charged his brother, a long ice spear growing in his hand. Jack stepped aside, but Jason was equally agile. Jason attempted an overhand swing at Jack with his spear, but Jack parried it. The two ice warriors were equally matched.

"Remember when we used to duel for fun in Father's courtroom?" Jack inquired evenly while parrying and counterstriking with the speed of a snake.

"We used to duel for hours on end, without there ever being a winner," Jason replied with equal ease, balancing his words with the clash of his spear against Jack's staff. "We were so equally matched, I and you, even though our skills were exact opposites. I was the stronger of us two, but you were quicker."

"It's just how we are," Jack agreed, striking and parrying without pause. "You're built for fight, I'm built for flight."

"And then hiding and striking back when they least expect it," Jason added.

"Exactly!" Jack exclaimed, marking his enthusiasm with an extra-hard blow from his staff.

"But this is a duel of skill and strength and force," Jason pointed out, swinging his spear towards Jack's torso.

Jack swiftly parried the attack with his staff. "So?"

"There's nowhere to run," Jason said. "You are weak, brother. You may try to hide it, but you are weak. Your skills have atrophied over the long years."

Then Jason tried a move that he hadn't used ever before. Jack himself was familiar with it, because when they were younger he had used it many times to trick Jason in duels, but Jason himself had never tried it. So he did it.

Quickly he swung his spear single-handedly at Jack's knees. Jack parried the blow, but what he wasn't expecting for was Jason continuing with the momentum of the spear, leaping forward and using his free hand to grab the back of his brother's neck. Jack, realizing that his own favorite trick was being used against him, wrestled out of the grasp and cracked his staff over Jason's shoulder. The ice king roared in pain, but when he swerved around the room wildly, searching for his brother, Jack was nowhere to be seen.

During his brother's momentary distraction, Jack had flown back up to the ceiling and hidden behind a pillar. As Jason recovered from his brief pain, Jack slid back into the shadows that made the ledges such good hiding places.

"You cannot hide forever, Jack," Jason snarled. "You cannot run. You cannot leave. Soon you will have to show your face."

Jack cowered on the ledge, pressing his back to the wall and inching into the shadows. His hands gripped his staff tightly as he prepared to leap.

As the silence prolonged, Jason's scowl grew colder. After no reply from Jack, he said calmly, "You have chosen. Bring her in!" The last sentence he shouted to the goblins standing guard by the door. The two guards nodded and opened the door, letting in a squad of particularly tall and intimidating goblins. The two in the front of the squad held the arms of a struggling prisoner, whose bleeding wrists were handcuffed behind her back with shackles of ice and whose mouth was gagged with a crude rag.

"Serene!" Jack whispered to himself, softly enough that no one else could hear.

The goblins forced Serene to her knees. She was in horrible condition. Blood trickled down her temple and both of her shoes were gone, revealing her cold blue feet. Her wings had disappeared and her spear and collection of knives and daggers were nowhere to be seen. Serene struggled against the bonds and tried to spit out the gag, but to no avail.

Jason knelt and gazed into her defiant brown eyes. "My long-time enemy," he crooned mockingly. "So wonderful to see you defeated once again."

Serene tried struggling again, but the goblins held her still. Jason stood up and pointed to the door. "Take her to the dungeons," he ordered. "Lock her up in the most secure location possible. I don't want her getting away before her…execution."

"No!" Jack yelled, jumping from the ledge. Barreling towards Jason at top speed, he knocked the icy king off his feet and pinned him to the wall. Jason wrestled him off and the two brothers were momentarily locked in a battle for control over the other, which involved quite a few bursts of lightning, blasts of ice, and one small hurricane.

While the goblins were temporarily distracted, Serene leapt up and hooked her bound hands underneath her legs, as simply and easily as if she was playing jump rope. Then she knocked out two goblin guards and flipped another to the ground with an improvised ninja-style kick. But there were just too many for her in her weakened state. One of them cracked his spear on her shoulder and she cried out in pain, falling to her knees.

Jack finally won control over his brother and cornered him against the wall. He was lifting the hook of his staff to summon a blast of energy when he was lifted off his feet and into the air by a goblin, who had grabbed the fabric of his blue hoodie and tossed him to the ground. His staff slid away from him and he scrambled to grab it, but a goblin pinned both of his arms behind his back and forced him to watch, tortuously, as Jason got up, picked up the staff, grasped it in two hands, and broke it in half.

A brief but paralyzing flash of white lightning exploded from where Jason broke the staff. All of the magical blue-white frost fled from the gnarled stick as it broke, leaving it only a plain wood stick. Jack screamed, "No!" as his only weapon and source of power was snapped in two. He doubled over, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath as his power left him. Jason tossed the two pieces of the broken stick to the ground at Jack's knees and summoned a swirl of ice and lightning, sending the blast into Jack's powerless body. Jack was knocked against a wall and slumped to the ground, struggling to get up.

"You are powerless, brother," Jason snarled. "You are useless to me now. I have no other choice than to find another source of energy and power –– one more reliable, and almost as appealing to my sense of revenge." He turned to one of the goblin captains and said, "Ready the army. Be prepared to march at my command."

The captain bowed and left the throne room. Jack turned to his two prisoners and commanded the guards. "Throw them into the chasm. Keep them there until I get back. I want them in good shape for the captive audience."

They were taken outside the castle into an abandoned courtyard and forced to stand on the edge of a gaping crack in the stone. Serene could see the bottom, but it was a long thirty feet down. Then, without hesitation, the goblins cut their chains and shoved Jack and Serene off the edge. Serene managed to keep from breaking anything by tucking in her head and legs and landing in a somersault, but Jack wasn't better off. He landed on his back, groaning.

"Jack!" Serene cried, propping his limp body against the wall. His head lolled and he groaned again, this time opening his eyes. He gestured weakly up to the top of the chasm and they both looked up. Jason stood above them, holding the two pieces of Jack's staff in his hand. Cackling, he tossed the two pieces into the chasm and the broken stick clattered on the ice-and-stone floor next to them.

"You two lovebirds make yourselves at home," Jason called mockingly. "You'll be there for a while."

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**Sucky chapter ending I know. But asdfghjkl; deal with it and review.**

**And btw...I thought up another reason for why this is a Rise of the Guardians crossover. There are some parts that align directly to the movie...even though this is a totally different storyline. See if you can find them.**


	8. Return of the Scout

Bianca was outfitting Rachel with a suit of armor and a weapon at the armory when the first of her scouts returned. Rachel had taken one look at the dresses of silver chain mail and shook her head.

"No way," she said. "I won't even be able to stand up in them, much less fight."

"Don't worry," Bianca replied, replacing her white vest with one of chain mail. "They're not as clunky as they look."

Tentatively, Rachel picked up one that seemed roughly her size. She was surprised at how light it was. So she put it on. It weighed no more than the white vest.

"All right, I admit it," Rachel laughed. "I'll wear it."

"Good," Bianca replied, handing her a short sword in a sheath. "Try this."

Rachel unsheathed the weapon and swung it experimentally. "It feels so _light!"_ she exclaimed. "Is all fairy weaponry this…weightless?"

"It's weightless because it's balanced," she explained. "So to you, it feels like nothing. Keep it."

Rachel slid it onto her belt and touched the hilt. Then the first of Bianca's scouts rushed up. The fairy almost collapsed. She had obviously been flying as fast as she could. Bianca directed her to a chair, handed her a bottle of water, and asked, "Find anything?"

"By the blazes, I did," the fairy gasped, chugging down half the water bottle in a single gulp and wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "They leave the castle as we speak. Frost has captured Serene and the silver-haired boy with the staff. No sign of Kirsty."

"What boy?" Bianca asked in confusion.

"The boy Serene stayed behind to help," Rachel interjected. "Jack Frost was drawing power from him when I saw him."

Bianca and the scout both stared at her. "Rachel," Bianca said, "say that again."

"Jack Frost was drawing power from him when I saw him," Rachel repeated slowly. "What's so bad about that? He did it to Queen Titania."

"Drawing power is what one does if they do not have a certain power," the fairy scout explained. "It's a very complicated spell that can be activated by certain small words, and it takes years to perfect so that the surge of power doesn't go overboard. When Frost did it to Titania he did it to gain her power of magic sight. If he did it to the boy, we're left with the question _why?_ What the devil was he trying to gain?"

They were all silent until Bianca said, "I don't know, but I feel that the answer is one that goes against all we know. Get some rest, scout. You've done well. We'll answer these questions later."

Rachel had a slinking suspicion that Bianca knew something, but, like Serene, had chosen not to voice it.

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**Letters of the alphabet:**

**abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvxwyz**

**Tell me if you find what's wrong with it... n_n**


	9. Memories

**Yes! Congratulations to those people who noticed that w and x were switched around...you know who you are.**

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They watched until he left them alone. When he was gone, Serene felt around the sides of the deep pit. "There's gotta be a way out," she said. "Maybe we can climb. Maybe I can find a way out of this spell they put on me and try to use magic or maybe my wings if I can get them back –– "

Jack drew his knees up to his chest and linked his hands around his legs. "It's no use," he whispered dejectedly. "We'll never get out of here. Might as well not try."

Serene spun around. "How could you say that?"

"I've ruined everything," he replied. "I messed everything up again. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Serene replied softly, placing a hand over his and kneeling next to him with her head resting on his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine for getting captured in the first place."

Jack couldn't think of a reply, so instead he changed the subject. "You feel hot."

"You feel cold," she replied, but truthfully she didn't mind. He was freezing, but it was a comforting kind of freezing, like an air-conditioned house after a hot day outside.

He looked down ruefully. "I'm sorry. All I can do is keep you cold."

"I don't mind," Serene answered truthfully, fingering his jagged ice pendant idly. "It's not your fault that you were made this way."

"What way?" Jack asked. "Cold and powerful? Fun and mischievous? I just feel… torn. Torn between the two sides. It's as if Jason and I are linked. I can sense his emotions sometimes."

"I don't know which one you're supposed to be," she replied, "or which one Jason wants you to be known as. But to me, you'll always be Jack. The one that's all snowball fights and sledding and snow days. The_ real_ Jack. The one that should have been there and should be always."

Jack smiled gratefully and slipped his hands over hers. She closed her eyes and nestled up next to him, tucking her cold bare feet in.

"Do you know where Kirsty is right now?" she whispered.

Jack hesitated, then admitted, "No."

"I wonder if she's safe," Serene said. "I wonder if she's cold."

A long pause stretched between Jack and Serene before he replied, "I don't know."

The silence that followed echoed in their ears as each of them lost themselves in their own thoughts. They could hear the goblins tramping into battle formations above, the clanking of armor and weapons, and the loud curses of captains. It was obvious that the goblins were out of practice in the art of orderly military assembly, judging by the profanity spewed by the officers, and, occasionally, Jason Frost himself.

"Serene," Jack said, breaking the almost palpable quiet between them. Her brown eyes flicked open and she cocked her head, letting him continue. "Remember the image in the ice mirror?"

Serene averted her eyes but said nothing.

"The one with…your mother?"

Still she said nothing.

"What happened to her? And the rest of your family?"

"I'm pretty sure you can do the math yourself."

This time, Jack was the one who didn't reply.

Then Serene sighed. "Fine. But it might better to simply show you." She reached inside her vest, inside an almost-hidden pocket, and pulled out a tiny glass vial with a clear blue liquid inside. "Hold out your hand, Jack." Reluctantly, he did so. Serene pulled the stopper and tilted the vial over Jack's hand, letting a single shining drop fall onto the palm of his hand.

Instantly he felt a tingling sensation in the spot where the drop landed, which spread to his entire body. His surroundings faded into spots of blackness, but as soon as the dark enveloped him completely he saw a glimmer of dim blue light. The light spread and Jack found himself in the hallways of the ice castle dungeons. It was barely light enough to see, but a shaft of moonlight slipped through a grate near the ceiling and illuminated the space. There were two goblins standing guard by a door at the end of the hallway. Jack clenched his fists, preparing to fight, but the goblins showed no sign of noticing him. They didn't even move, other than yawning and fidgeting slightly.

Then, suddenly, the door swung open and let in a cloaked figure. The goblins scrambled for their spears and pointed them at the stranger, but she –– Jack could tell by the shape of the body and the easy, graceful movements that she was a girl –– dispatched them easily and quickly by knocking them both out with the pommel of a dagger in her hand. Then, leaving the unconscious goblins lying on the floor, she continued walking calmly down the hallway towards Jack. The hood covered her face in shadow, so Jack couldn't tell exactly who it was, but he thought he knew anyway. His assumptions were proven correct when the girl unintentionally turned at the right angle, revealing part of her face.

"Serene!" Jack called to her. But she walked right past him, not hearing or even noticing him.

_This must be a memory, _he concluded. _So…maybe she can't see or hear me._

He followed the past version of Serene down the hallways of the dungeons and watched as she bypassed goblin guards efficiently, with help from her dagger. As she sneaked down the hallways silently and quickly, she glanced left and right, quickly scanning each of the cells as she went. Most of them were empty, but the ones that weren't contained snoring goblins.

Then, after some time of searching, Past Serene stopped in front of the cell that held her family and flipped her hood back. Her entire family looked up, and Jack had a sense of déjà vu.

"Serene!" her father cried. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting you out of here," Past Serene replied boldly.

Then, just as it had happened in the ice mirror, Jason materialized in front of her. Even though Jack knew it was just a memory, his fists clenched at the sight of his brother. Just as he had seen already, Past Serene summoned magic and said, "Stay back, Icicle Face. You don't know what you're dealing with."

As had happened before, Past Jason laughed and replied, "You think so? Try me."

Past Serene yelled and threw her silver missile, but Past Jason froze it mid-air and snatched Past Serene's mother.

"Make a single move, and she dies," Past Jason threatened.

"Serene," her mother pleaded, "go."

"Mother!" Serene cried, but this time the image didn't stop. It continued. Past Serene and Past Jason were stuck in a stalemate. If Jason killed her mother, she would probably kill him. But if she tried to kill him, her mother would be caught in the middle and probably also be killed. There was only one thing left to do, and both of them knew it.

"Put down your weapon, girl," Past Jason ordered. Past Serene only scowled, but this caused Past Jason's grip on her mother to tighten. Reluctantly, Past Serene laid her dagger on the ground and stood up, her head lowered in defeat.

"What do you want from me?" Past Serene asked, a hint of defiance still in her voice.

"I want revenge," he spat. "I want you to become my tool. Spy on the pesky fairies. Sabotage their plans. Destroy them from the inside out."

Past Serene's head lifted up and she met Past Jason's eyes, holding them in her steady gaze. "Do you have any idea what you're asking of me?"

Past Jason said nothing.

"You're threatening to kill my family, and if I want to keep them alive, my option is to become your slave. Do you have any idea of what will happen, either way?"

Still Past Jason said nothing.

"If I become your spy, your double agent, then, when the fairies are gone, I can destroy you in the same way you suggest –– from the inside. If not, if you kill my family, then you're talking about infinity of torture from me. I'm immortal now unless I'm killed in battle. I can't die from natural causes or old age. And if I can live forever, I can torment you forever. I'm talking infinity, until you die or are brought to justice, of pranks, stolen possessions, sabotaged battle plans, constant fear that I might be hiding behind a pillar or up in a chandelier and waiting for the perfect chance to strike. Either way, you lose."

But then Past Serene's own tactic backfired on her. Past Jason's lip curled into a snarl and he shot back, "But if you want, we can skip the diplomacy and being friends and I can simply kill your family, and then imprison and torture you. That sounds like where you're going."

Past Serene replied with an equally harsh glare. Then she lowered her head and knelt before Jason. "I am sorry for the defiance. I will take your offer."

Past Jason's snarl turned into a wicked smile. He released Past Serene's mother, who rushed forward and grasped her daughter. Then he unlocked the cell and her father and brother sprinted out, embracing Past Serene.

"You shouldn't have betrayed them," her mother gasped.

"Are you going to get us out of here?" her brother asked in a small voice.

Past Serene hesitated, then ruffled her brother's brown hair. "Yes. I promise. I'll get you all out of here. Don't believe everything you see."

Jack wondered what she meant by this until Past Serene reached out, seemingly to place her hand on her father's shoulder, but her hand reached past him and towards the ceiling above Past Jason. Then the icicles on the ceiling above Past Jason started to shake and rattle. He looked up, panic streaking across his face for a brief moment. Then, as the first icicles started to fall, he reached his hand towards Past Serene's family and magically levitated them towards him. Past Serene screamed, "No!" as her mother, father, and brother were torn away from her and tossed underneath the falling shards of ice. Jason leapt away to safety just as the entire ceiling crashed down on Past Serene's family.

For a moment, Past Serene was frozen. She couldn't move. Then, in a flash of fury, she scooped her dagger off the floor and hurled it at Past Jason, the flashing blade spinning end over end as it streaked towards her enemy. Jack knew immediately that it was going to be a perfect shot, but Jason ducked. The blade grazed the top of his forehead and the ice king fell backwards. But when he got back up, Past Serene was already sprinting down the hallways of the dungeons, a stolen spear in her hand.

Past Serene was a fast runner. Present Serene probably was too. Jack tried to keep up with her as she desperately looked for a way out. He knew that she was going in circles, but didn't think it would help to try and tell her that. Then she stopped. Jack almost crashed into her, but slowed down just in time. She had stopped in a familiar-looking corridor, staring down at a familiar-looking cell, but Jack couldn't place where he had

seen it before. She sprinted down the hallway and peered in through the tiny barred window of the solid door, and Jack looked in over her shoulder. Inside the cell was a skinny, white-haired boy in a short brown cape and white tunic. He was balancing on the hook of an upright staff, his bare feet balancing easily on the hook of the stick. It was Jack Frost himself. He knew, judging by his clothes and the number of frost pictures he had made on the walls, that it couldn't have been more than twenty years after Jason's rise to power.

"It looks _that_ impressive?" Jack asked aloud, knowing that no one could hear him or see him. He had always thought that balancing on the hook of a staff was an easy trick, but now that he could see himself actually doing it he was impressed at his own balance.

"Um, hello, trapeze balancer?" Past Serene called to Past Jack.

Past Jack's blue eyes flicked open in alarm. His gaze settled on Serene and he sighed.

"Hi," Past Serene said. "Listen, do you know how to get out of this maze?"

"Of course I do," Past Jack bragged. "Go straight and turn left at the next intersection. Then go straight until you hit a door. Go through this and you'll find yourself at another intersection. Go right, then left at the next intersection. Then go straight until you find a set of double doors. After these are stairs. I think you can figure out the rest."

"Thanks," Past Serene said. "I'd help you escape, but my dragon doesn't like elves."

"It's all right," Past Jack replied nonchalantly, folding his arms. "I can't leave anyway. Something with a curse that keeps me in. Not fun." As Past Serene smiled sympathetically and left Past Jack alone, he yelled, "Hey wait –– what? I'm not an elf!"

It hit Jack right there and then, as he followed Past Serene down the icy hallways. He now knew why she looked familiar. He had seen her before, two hundred and seventy years before. But then…why hadn't she told him if she knew? Maybe she just didn't remember.

Jack followed her down the exact directions and halls that Past Jack had told her. It was pretty amazing how accurate her memory was. She burst out into the central hall, dispatched a nearby squad of goblins with her new spear, and kept going. Eventually she made it out of the castle and into the gardens. Before the goblins at the front gate could stop her, though, she whistled and a huge, blue dragon with glittering sapphire scales soared down from the sky. Past Serene leapt and landed on a saddle on the dragon's back, steering the magnificent creature towards Fairyland.

Jack couldn't follow her. He literally couldn't move anymore. He closed his eyes, reviewing everything that had just seen, but when he opened them again he was back in the chasm with Serene, the real, present-day Serene.

"Why didn't you tell me?" whispered Jack.

Serene gave a small, rueful smile. "You needed to find out for yourself," she replied. "You're the first person I've shown that to, ever."

"Why did you come back?"

"What do you mean?"

"You saw me once and left me. Then, when you came back three hundred years later, you risked your life to save me. Why?"

"I couldn't bear it any longer," she whispered. "Ever since I had left you, the guilt ate at me. Every time I passed your cell, it got worse. Then, when I realized what Jason had been doing with you, I couldn't take it anymore."

"You knew that I wouldn't be able to leave. I told you about the curse the first time."

"I didn't care about that. I only cared about you."

Jack lifted his head and found that the two pieces of his broken staff lay in front of him. Serene glanced at them, then back at Jack, and nodded. "Try it."

Without saying anything, Jack picked up the two pieces and put them together like a puzzle. He gripped the pieces and closed his eyes, trying to draw on the power that he formerly used easily. Nothing came and the still-broken staff fell from his hands.

"Try again," Serene encouraged.

He gripped them again and closed his eyes tighter. He tapped into the icy power rushing through him and drew from it, channeling it through his hands and into the staff. He could feel himself growing stronger, and almost involuntarily, he opened his eyes.

What he saw, and what both of them saw, was a bluish white glow emanating from the cracked area on the staff. Tendrils of feathery frost raced up and down the length of the weapon and back up into Jack's hands as it was made whole again. Serene's mouth unconsciously fell open. Jack's eyes were wide with surprise and excitement as he smiled in delight.

They shot out of the chasm, Jack holding onto Serene's waist as he carried her on the wind. Several goblin guards had been left behind at the castle to make sure they didn't escape, and they aimed their spears at them as Jack set them both on the ground. Jack lifted his staff and slammed the base down into the ground, sending out a ring of bluish-white magic from the weapon, which spread and froze every goblin in the courtyard.

"That should hold them for a while," he said with a smirk, leisurely twirling his staff. Then he noticed Serene's empty, limp hands, which should have been grasping the shaft of her spear. "They took your weapons?"

"And my shoes," she replied dejectedly. "They sent my weapons off to the blacksmith's to be melted down and used again. As for my shoes, apparently there's a large demand for footwear in the realm of goblins. I'll never see them again."

"I can steal some from Jason's personal treasury if you want…"

"No. It's okay. I placed a spell around myself that prevents me from getting too cold."

"Well, you might be able to survive without shoes," he said, "but not without a weapon. Give me your vial."

"My vial?" she repeated doubtfully. "You mean…the one with my memories?"

"It's time you let go," Jack said. "Let go of the bad memories –– turn them into something new. I can help you."

Slowly she drew her vial from its hidden pocket and handed it to Jack. The liquid showed no sign of ever even being opened. He looked up. A leafless, gnarled tree, the only tree in the Ice Kingdom, stood in front of him, sprouting from a patch of gray dirt in the middle of the courtyard. "Perfect," he said, partially to himself. He got up and scrambled up the tree, seeking out handholds easily and quickly and searching for a branch of just the right thickness and length. He was familiar with this tree. It was from its branches that his weapon of power was found. Finally he found the right branch and snapped it off, holding it in his spare hand and leaping from the tree, letting the wind carry him back to Serene. He handed the stick to her and asked, "Does this feel right?"

She hefted it in her hands. It was about six feet in length, about an inch and a half thick, and made of the same wood as Jack's staff. She nodded and handed it back to Jack. He sat with his legs criss-crossed on the cold cobbles of the courtyard and leaned the stick so that one end was balanced in his lap. He took the vial of Serene's memories and held it high above his own hand, gently tipping it out. The liquid shone like a perfect column of sapphire as it fell towards Jack's outstretched hand, but an inch above his palm it stopped. The liquid started to freeze in the air, and as it froze Jack molded and shaped it into something new, mixing snow crystals in periodically. Serene watched in fascination as Jack froze the memory liquid into a diamond-shaped spearhead made of jagged light blue ice. But he wasn't done. He then attached the frozen diamond to the end of the stick, forming a spear with an icy diamond head. He set the ice weapon into Serene's hands. Her fingers caressed the shaft and slid down the flat side of the spearhead.

"How did you do that?" she asked in wonder.

"Instinct," he replied simply. Her fingers traced the feathery, curling patterns on the glass-like spearhead. "Reinforced with special magic, so as long as you're alive, it'll never break or melt," he explained. "And if you channel magic through the shaft, the tip will freeze anything it touches." As he held her hands, the wounds given to her by the restricting ice cuffs were healed by his magical touch. His fingers drifted up to her face and caressed the bleeding wound on her forehead, channeling magic through his fingertips and knitting the cut together until there was nothing left except flawless skin.

"Wow," she whispered. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me," Jack said. "This is my thanks to you."

She lifted her head and met his eyes. "For what?"

"For giving me the motive to heal my power," he replied.

She smiled daringly. "Come on, Icepop," she teased. "Let's go kick Jason's frozen butt all the way to Mexico. See how he likes it then."

They entered the ice castle without any hindrances, other than a few goblin guards, whom they quickly dispatched. As they strode through the icy, empty corridors, Serene explained, "Right before I was captured I cast a spell on Kirsty that turned her fairy size _to_ a fairy. She's small enough to hide behind an icicle."

"But which one, that's the question," Jack pointed out.

"Oh, I know where she is," Serene replied. "The one place no one would ever look. The dungeons."

* * *

**Serene's song: Ezio's Family by Jesper Kyd, from the soundtrack of Assassin's Creed II**

**It just came on while I was editing it...and I was like, "No. Way. Awesome!"**

* * *

**Also, cool izzy, can you sign in? You're not in trouble; I just need to talk to you, dear. I don't write these every day; I wrote this all out long before and only upload them every day. But I'm flattered anyway... n_n**


	10. Battle of the Ice King

Bianca flitted about, talking to commanders, sergeants, and lieutenants with rapid-fire commands that only the fairies seemed to be able to keep up with. A cold breeze had already begun to pick up and the dark clouds on the horizon signaled that the goblin army was drawing closer. The army, which consisted of every fairy, sprite, and elf able to use magic and/or a weapon of any kind, was smaller than Rachel had expected. Gabriella the Snow Kingdom Fairy, Crystal the Snow Fairy, Abigail the Breeze Fairy, Storm the Lightning Fairy, Isabelle the Ice Dance Fairy, and any fairy that had anything to do with cold, stormy weather were setting up defenses against the very things they specialized in, which made them surprisingly good at it. Goldie the Sunshine Fairy planned to lead the front lines, along with Joy the Summer Vacation Fairy and any fairy who had anything to do with light and warmth. The immortal guardian girls, such as Bianca, were practicing invisibility. Rachel was standing up on a balcony of the Fairyland Palace with King Oberon and Queen Titania, ready to defend the king and queen if necessary.

Then the dark clouds broke with a crack of lightning and an almost overwhelming gust of freezing wind tore through the air. Rachel shivered, but kept her eyes focused on the dark cloud. A tall, cloaked figure wearing a crown of icicles appeared, glinting in the flash of lightning. The army of goblins dove from the air, assisted by Jason's –– or as Rachel and most of the other fairies still knew him, Jack Frost's –– control over the wind.

Then the fairies let out a battle cry and fluttered up to meet the goblins in the air. The two armies met in an explosion of magic, good and bad. Many of the goblins landed on the ground to fight the fairies, but some stayed up in the air. Sometimes, if a goblin screamed in pain and fell to the ground for no apparent reason, Rachel knew that one of the invisible girls had been there. But as Rachel watched in frozen horror, some of the fairies fell under the spears of the goblins. They were outnumbered by too many. It was hopeless.

She had an impulse to scream, but her throat was too dry to utter a sound.

* * *

**Sorry for the ultra short chappy. I'll make it up to you with a more detailed battle and a bit more of Jackerene. Ahh, I love my OC ship names. I've invented so many. (i.e. Silver Rainbow, Storm Frost, Caiamis, Petruno, Saigico, Skyliet, Perlandra, Sylvialis, Haddeston, Devairae, Syriley, Sestavlin, et cetera...)**

**Agh! Off subject! Now what the heck was I going to say again?**

**(*For translations of the made up ship names, PM me and I will happily tell you...except for the ones that have spoilers. Which is pretty much all of them.)**


	11. Jack Has a Plan (Duck For Cover!)

Kirsty shivered for what had to be the hundredth time since Serene's capture. She was huddled in an empty cell in a corner, her legs drawn up to her chest. Serene's spell prevented her from freezing to death, but it wasn't enough to keep her comfortable. She had swiped a scrap of unused fabric from a sprite's cell and used it as a makeshift blanket, even though the fabric was rough, smelly, and dirty.

She had even tried to contact Serene through their link of mind-speak, but something was blocking her. A dark spell kept her from contacting her friend and Kirsty was relatively sure that this spell also kept Serene from using any kind of magic at all, which was the reason she hadn't come for her yet.

She shivered again and wrapped her covering more tightly around her. She was drifting off into a troubled sleep when she thought she heard a door opening. Then she heard voices. Two young voices, calling her name. Jack and Serene had made it.

"I'm here!" she shouted, but her voice was too tiny to be heard by Jack and Serene. She threw off her blanket and darted out of her cell, fluttering in the direction of the two voices. "I'm here!" she shouted again, turning a corner and almost flying straight into Jack's head.

Kirsty looked the two over. Serene's short-cropped hair had fallen out of its ponytail holder. It was frizzy and falling in front of her eyes, as if she had just lost a fight with a tornado. There was a new hole in her already-ripped jeans. Her shoes were gone and instead of her sleek steel spear, she held a gnarled stick with a diamond-shaped blue tip. The state of Jack's hair gave him the appearance that he had just licked a spark plug and the glint in his manic blue eyes hinted that he either just walloped a bunch of goblins or drank at least five cups of coffee. But neither of them seemed to care.

"Kirsty!" Serene exclaimed, waving her hand in the air. Kirsty started to grow back to normal height and, when she was tall enough, trapped Serene and Jack in her tight embrace.

"You guys are okay!" she cried.

"Yeah, we're okay," Jack replied after a laugh.

After Kirsty had released them from her tight embrace, Serene said, "Okay, problem number one solved. How about problem number two –– Jason left with the goblin army. How are we going to get him back here?"

The three pondered this for a moment. Then Jack snapped his fingers and said, "Hey! I just thought of something!"

Serene gasped and put her hands over her mouth in exaggerated astonishment. "Alert the media! It's monumental!"

Kirsty had to cover her mouth and bite her tongue to keep from bursting out in laughter. Jack rolled his eyes at this open insult to his intelligence and said, "I'm serious. Does anyone have a double-mirrored compact and the keys to the prison cells?"

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**I know it's so short and uneventful. Meh.**

**Lesson to y'all: Never try updating three chapters to three different stories at once. It's extremely mind-boggling and clutters up your Doc Manager. Who else is totally ticked that they only let you keep 50 documents on there at once? (I am!)**


	12. Magic Skype

Jack held up Serene's mirror so his reflection was visible in the top mirror. With a flick of his fingers and a touch of magic the image flipped to the bottom mirror. The new image in the top mirror was almost shocking to Kirsty –– Jason's twisted, icy face. In the background they could see hordes of goblins fighting fairies. Jason was occupied, freezing the oncoming fairies with blasts of ice and wind.

"Hi Jason," Jack mocked with a grin.

Jason turned to them. "You!" he snapped.

"Yes, me," Jack replied. "And Serene and Kirsty." He angled the mirror so that both of their faces were visible in the bottom mirror. They grinned and waved as casually as if they were Skyping a friend.

Jack angled the mirror back to himself just as Jason snapped, "How did you get out? You were both powerless. I broke…"

"My staff," Jack finished. "Yes, I know. We all know. But I managed to fix it. The important thing is, I'm free. And you have to get back here otherwise I'll destroy your palace and kill your goblins. You know I can. You know I will."

"You wouldn't!"

"I would and we both know it," Jack shot back.

Serene grabbed the mirror and tilted towards her. "I'd help," she said, "and we'd be done in twice the time. Ooh," she added as she saw her reflection. "I need a hairbrush. Blast, Kirsty, you nailed a goblin with a blue one in the north tower treasury. Should've picked it up. Dang." When Jack and Kirsty looked at her, she said indignantly, "What? Just because I can't die from embarrassment doesn't mean that I'm not self-conscious."

Jason shouted a curse and a spell, mildly offending Jack, Serene and Kirsty and freezing an unfortunate nearby sprite at the same time. He turned to one of the nearby goblin captains and snarled, "Take charge of the troops and continue the siege. I need to return to my castle. My prisoner escaped again."

" 'Prisoner'," Serene repeated indignantly. "He doesn't give me credit." Almost triumphantly, she turned the mirror to the background, where dozens of escaped captives were running around the halls of the dungeons, trying to find a way out. An ecstatic, off-balance goblin almost crashed into them, but he collided with a sprite instead. Serene flipped her ragged hair out of her eyes dramatically and bragged, "Yeah boys, I started a jailbreak!"

Jason cursed again and froze three fairies with one spell. "Jack, I'll…ah, I'm not even going to say what I'll do to you."

"Okay," Jack replied cheerfully.

"Bye!" Kirsty interjected.

"See you soon!" Serene smirked.

Jack snapped the compact shut and handed it back to Serene. "Thanks," he said. "I guess those things do have their uses."

"They're also very useful for distracting guards and deflecting light," she replied, sliding the small mirror into her pocket. "Let's release all these convicts. I don't think they'll be too happy with Jason for throwing them in the slammer. They might be of some use to us."

"How?" Kirsty inquired.

"I might have something in mind," Serene answered, a devious grin creeping up her face.


	13. Shortest Chapter I've Ever Written

The attacking fairies seemed to form a circle around the powerful Ice King. He had a long sword in one hand and a spear of ice in the other and used them both. A huge blue dragon, the same one Serene had ridden in her memory, was fighting against him fiercely, but a lucky shot from Jason froze the gigantic creature into a giant blue ice statue. After time there seemed to be a giant, cloudy nimbus of cold blue magic, mixed with multicolored fairy dust, floating around him.

Then, as Rachel watched, his head jerked to the side. He kept fighting the occasional fairy opponent, but he seemed to be angrily conversing with someone. Then he turned and started fleeing, taking with him thirty goblins.

Rachel wondered about this, but noticed that after he had left, the fairies started slowly regaining the upper hand.

* * *

**Shortest. Chapter. Ever. I'm sorry, I've just been having huge problems with all of these stories now. I'm trying to totally revamp the next chapter and it's NOT WORKING IN MY STUPID BRAIN. On top of that, I have two other chapter stories that I am updating every day or every other day, so it's just been hectic with my crazy home schedule. So I'll be updating sporadically from now on…I'll update tomorrow, but after that it'll be every other day. Sound good? I'm so sorry; please don't kill me...!**


	14. Pegasi: Plural of Pegasus

**Ahh, finally a semi-long chapter!**

* * *

"They must really hate Jason," Jack remarked, watching the vengeful goblins and sprites as they suited up for their little raid.

"That's part of the plan," Serene replied. "Kirsty's going to lead them towards Jason and kind of 'encourage' him by chasing him here. Kirsty, you sure you want to do this?"

"Not really," Kirsty answered nervously, loosening her new sword in her scabbard. Serene had "liberated" it from the north tower treasury junk pile for her to use.

"Good," she replied. "Your nerves will give you extra energy. So, let's review the plan again –– you're going to lead these goblins and elves et cetera on the pegasi towards Jason, then, when you get to him, wheel behind him and chase him to his limits. He'll go faster if he's being chased by a bunch of furious goblins with cavalry swords on pegasi, and less motivated to get rid of us by blasting the castle from afar. Your job is to make sure that they don't get too angry and decide to finish Jason off by themselves. Jason still has power enough to wipe you all out with one spell."

"What if he decides to do that to us just to get rid of us?" Kirsty asked anxiously.

"He won't," Jack answered, saddling a snow-white pegasus for Kirsty. "He's too smart for that. A spell like that would take a lot of energy and he knows that he'll need enough to face me and Serene both."

"So he won't freeze me into an ice cube or anything?"

"Probably not."

"That's very reassuring," Kirsty replied sarcastically.

"It wasn't supposed to be," Serene interjected. "So, as I was saying, your other job is to get rid of any goblins he's brought with him. Some of the elves have bows, so they'll probably be able to do that for you, but if any try to face you head-on, you'll have the sword with you."

Kirsty stroked her pegasus's neck. She nodded. "Where did you find the pegasi?"

"Jason used to breed them," Jack answered. "I set them all free two hundred years ago as a prank and they still owed me that favor. This is their way of saying thank you."

The pegasus whinnied almost as if offering an exclamation point. "Can they talk?" Kirsty asked. The original Pegasus she had met couldn't talk, but could understand human speech.

"Not these ones," Jack answered, also stroking the magnificent creature. "But they understand you and can communicate through thoughts."

_Snowflake was waiting for the Frost-Boy to tell you so you would not be scared,_ a voice said in Kirsty's mind. _Once Snowflake tried to communicate with a No-Wings. He shoots at me with his big gun and yells. After that Snowflake does not talk to No-Wings or Small-Wings or Point-Ears or Large-Wings-That-Eat-Pegasi. Only Frost-Boy._

"Wow," Kirsty marveled. "Your name is Snowflake?"

_Is Snowflake, _the pegasus confirmed. _Frost-Boy says so._

Jack laughed. "She's a beautiful pegasus," he said. "She adores me. All of them do. They call me 'Frost-Boy'."

_Apples are good, _offered Snowflake. _Especially the Small-Wings golden apples. The Small-Wing king with no wings chases Snowflake away when she tries to eat one. Says they are only for the prissy royal Pegasus. Says Snowflake is wild. Snowflake is not wild. Frost-Boy says so._

"You'll get some if we ever get out of this mess," Serene promised. "I have a direct pipeline to them. Now, I think Kirsty should get going. Have you ever ridden a pegasus, Kirsty?"

"Once," Kirsty replied.

Snowflake shook her head. _Only the prissy royal Pegasus. Is ditzy. Only eats pretty golden apples and takes Small-Wings for rides. Never talks to Snowflake or Icicle or Crystalmane or other pegasi. Only Small-Wings and the king and queen with no wings. Is very ditzy. Frost-Boy and Small-Wing-sometimes-No-Wing-Girl says so. Snowflake easier to ride. Snowflake never let you fall off unless you are a green Point-Ear. Scared of them. Smell bad. Other pegasi do not really care. But Snowflake cares. Snowflake has sensitive nose._

Kirsty laughed and mounted Snowflake, settling in the saddle. Around her in the castle yard, goblins, elves, sprites, fairies, and other former prisoners who wished to help were mounting their pegasi and getting ready for the raid, if it could be called that.

_Snowflake will help you ride,_ Snowflake offered. _Hold on tight. Do not have to touch reins. Snowflake knows where you want to go. Snowflake likes idea. Does not like the brother of Frost-Boy. Frost-Boy is nice. Brother of Frost-Boy is not._

"You got that right," Kirsty smirked, patting Snowflake's neck. Snowflake whinnied. "So, uh, what do I do?"

"Let Snowflake take the reins," Jack replied. "The others will follow."

"Okay," she replied reluctantly. "So, um, Snowflake…"

_Frost-Boy said to let Snowflake take the reins, _Snowflake finished. _Snowflake will do that now._

"Okay, so –– " Kirsty was interrupted as the talkative pegasus took off, leaping into the air and spreading her wings. Instinctively Kirsty gripped the knob in front of her to avoid falling off.

_Other pegasi are following us, _Snowflake said as she soared into the air at an almost vertical angle. _Wants to come with us. Carrying many Point-Ears and some Small-Wings. Also wants to attack brother of Frost-Boy. Why is Frost-Boy not with us?_

"He's staying behind," Kirsty replied, catching her breath as Snowflake adjusted to flying horizontally.

_Not want to attack brother? Frost-Boy dislikes brother. Wants to whack him with hooked staff he carries._

"He'll attack him," said Kirsty. "Just later. We're leading his brother back to the castle so that Frost-Boy –– er, Jack –– can attack him then."

_Ah,_ the pegasus sighed. _Snowflake forgot. Frost-Boy cannot go outsides of castle gates otherwise he gets zapped by magic lightning. What about the dark Small-Wing-sometimes-No-Wing-Girl who promises yummy apples? Is she staying with Frost-Boy to attacks brother too?_

Kirsty had a hard time keeping up with the conversation, because Snowflake mind-spoke fast and ungrammatically when she was excited, but eventually pieced it together. "You mean Serene? Yes."

_Snowflake does not get it, _Snowflake shook her head, _how some Small-Wings can take off their wings. Where do they go? Why can't Snowflake do it? The dark Small-Wing-sometimes-No-Wing-Girl who promises apples can do it. The Small-Wing-sometimes-No-Wing-Girl who rides me can do it. Frost-Boy does not even have wings at all but can fly. Why cannot Pegasi do it?_

"I don't know," Kirsty answered, shivering from a sudden chilly draft.

_Small-Wing-sometimes-No-Wing Rider is cold,_ Snowflake remarked. _Frost-Boy can makes things cold. But so can brother of Frost-Boy and his smelly green Point-Ears. Frost-Boy does not like to make peoples uncomfortable on purpose, especially peoples that he likes. Frost-Boy likes you. It must be brother of Frost-Boy!_

Kirsty was proud of her pegasus's laser-like deductive reasoning, but said nothing about it. Snowflake sent her message to the other pegasi in the group. The pegasi spread the news to their riders, and the riders started shouting to each other.

_Take command, Rider of Snowflake, _a dark gray male Pegasus said to Kirsty. _Rider of Graytail is angry and nervous and screamly at the same time. Graytail does not like it. Snowflake tells Graytail that she does not like it either._

The pegasi and their riders started to enter a dark gray cloud. Kirsty could barely see the other pegasi, but knew just what to do. "Hey, um, attention everyone!" she shouted to the other riders around her. "Stick together and just let your pegasi lead! They know what to do! Keep your weapons ready; I think we're coming up on them."

Her sweaty hands gripped the pommel of the saddle ever more tightly. How would she defend herself and use her sword if she was holding on for dear life?

_Do not become scaredly, Rider of Snowflake,_ her Pegasus reassured. _Magics protect you. You will not fall off Snowflake. Try it._

Reluctantly, Kirsty loosened her grip on the saddle and held out her left hand. Then her right. She was riding no-handed!

_Try drawing outs your sword, _Snowflake suggested.

Gaining confidence, Kirsty grabbed her sword and slid it out of its sheath. Snowflake faltered for a second, then righted herself and said, _Maybes Rider should put sharp blades away until brother of Frost-Boy is seen. Snowflake does not want her head cut off._

Kirsty obeyed Snowflake and managed a nervous giggle, which was smothered by the howling wind and a paroxysm of shivers. "Jason's close," she called to the other riders.

Then a bolt of blue lightning streaked through the sky, breaking the semi-organized ranks of pegasi. The crack of lightning carried with it the cackle of Jason's freezing laugh and a blast of cold air. Snowflake and the other pegasi whinnied in terror. In the confusion, Jason and several goblins streaked right through the broken ranks of Pegasi and riders.

_There is brother of Frost-Boy! _Snowflake whinnied to the other pegasi. _Follow him!_

Snowflake took the lead and raced after Jason and the group of goblins. Kirsty managed to hold on as, with her left hand holding the saddle and her right hand drawing her sword, she and Snowflake raced after them.

The other pegasi followed. The goblins spun around and noticed them, but right in time for several of the elven archers to draw arrows and fire.

_Do not fire at brother of Frost-Boy! _Snowflake screamed to the archers. _Only green Point-Ears! Frost-Boy wants to kill brother later! Frost-Boy is good!_

A spear, thrown by a goblin, whizzed past Kirsty's ear. She drew her sword and swung instinctively at a charging goblin. With the hilt of the sword she knocked him out of the air. Snowflake reared up and whinnied.

_Good! Snowflake likes it when green Point-Ears get hurts! _she approved. _They hurts her when the bad brother of Frost-Boy enslaves her! Now Rider of Snowflake hurts them! Keep hurting them!_

Kirsty cast a concerned glance at her bloodthirsty pegasus's delighted blue eyes. Then, rolling her eyes, she held up her sword in a challenge to any other goblins. But there were none left. Only Jason remained, still zipping through the skies with pegasi nipping at his heels. Snowflake darted after them, but Kirsty noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a staggering pegasus. It was Graytail, the pegasus who had suggested for Kirsty to take command of the other riders. A spear had grazed his wing and now he flapped painfully behind. The goblin on his back was conversing nervously with him.

"Is Graytail all right?" Kirsty shouted to the rider as he struggled to keep up with the others.

_Graytail is in hurts, _the pegasus gasped, staggering once more, _but he will be fine. Will catch up with others later…_

The goblin on his back cursed and raised his sword to whack the poor pegasus with the flat side of the blade, but Kirsty shouted, "Stop! Graytail did nothing. Don't hurt him."

The goblin glared at her and sheathed his weapon. Apparently his lust for revenge was not enough to tame his rough nature. "Fine. I'll catch up with you later."

_Wise choice, stinky Point-Ear, _Snowflake snarled, accelerating slightly to catch up with the other pegasi.

To Kirsty's relief, Jason did nothing but ignore the pegasi as they nipped at his heels, encouraging and teasing him to go faster. Within minutes they were at the Ice Palace, soaring around the spires. Jason darted inside a window and out of the pegasi's reach, so they simply hovered above the castle or landed on the courtyard floors below.

_Frost-Boy told Snowflake to wait, _Snowflake offered as she hovered in the air. _Also says to lets Small-Wing-sometimes-No-Wing-Girl who rides Snowflake to go insides and help them defeat brother of Frost-Boy. Snowflake will let her go. Fly, Small-Wing Rider. Use small wings to fly and follow brother of Frost-Boy into the castle. Let him feel your sharply sword, Rider._

"Thanks, Snowflake," Kirsty replied, standing up in the saddle and fluttering her wings, carrying herself through the air and into the castle.

* * *

**I will update on Wednesday.**

**Reviews are love...**


	15. Bound

Serene and Jack waited in the throne room for Jason. They leaned against the sides of the throne casually, Jack on the right side, Serene on the left. They kept their weapons at the ready, waiting for even the first sign of Jason's return. Serene was testing out her new freeze power through the spear by melting items with a werelight and then refreezing them.

Then they heard Jason's ice shoes clacking against the frozen flagstones in the hallway. "Here comes the hurricane," Serene muttered. Jack readied his staff.

The throne room doors flew open and a furious Jason stood in the doorway. "Brother," he spat coldly. "You escaped."

"I told you so," he replied, twirling his staff idly.

"You dragged me all the way back from a history-changing battle so you could tell me you told me so?" Jason inquired sarcastically.

"Yup," Jack answered proudly, stepping forward slowly and aiming his staff at his brother. "But I also have another reason. I'm going to end this, once and for all."

"You faced me several times," Jason countered, "and each time you lost. Do you really expect there to be any difference in the way we do things?"

"No," Jack said, "but this time I have backup."

Serene smiled coldly and walked casually to Jack's side, leaning against her spear. "You've become extremely annoying to me over the past two hundred and seventy years, Jason Frost. But today these scores will be settled, and in our favor."

"You wish, girl," Jason sneered.

Serene trailed her fingers up the shaft of her spear. "I wish for nothing," she replied imperiously. "Jack?"

Even as she said his name, Jack leapt into action. He lunged forward, blasting ice from his staff and towards Jason, but Jason was fast. He deflected the blast with his hand and summoned a long sword of jagged ice. Serene and Jack leapt, Jack with blue tendrils racing up his readied staff, Serene with a nimbus of silver magic swirling above her palm. The struggle was on!

Jason was very strong, but together Jack and Serene were stronger. After a momentary tussle on the floor, Jason kicked Serene across the room. For a few seconds both brothers were locked in a duel of speed, sword against staff. Then Serene got back up and plowed right into Jason. Then it was a duel of blades, the ice spear versus the ice sword. But when they fought alone, one on one, they discovered that Jason had the upper hand. When they worked together, nothing that Jason did could slip past them.

At one point, Jason opened a cut on Serene's wrist with his ice sword. Where the blood started to flow, frost started to creep up her arm and freeze it solid. She screamed in pain and dropped her spear. Jack scooped her up in his arms, took her spear, and lifted them by the wind and into the air. He took her up to the ledge above the throne room and laid her down on the frozen ledge, placing his hands over her wound and concentrating on reversing the spell.

Then something exploded right by his ear. Jason had aimed with his sword and sent a blast of ice and hail right towards Jack and Serene. Hurriedly, Jack pushed Serene behind the safety of an ice pillar and rushed to heal the wound on Serene's arm. He was almost finished casting the right spells when the pillar that shielded them from Jason exploded and tumbled down. They were exposed, and Jason was aiming his sword right at them. Jack muttered the last words of the spell and the ice that was creeping up Serene's arm started to recede, and the wound started to heal. Then Jason fired.

The blast hit right under their feet, breaking the ledge. The ice ledge split and both of them were thrown off. Serene screamed. Jack regained his footing, but Serene was still falling! She had gotten rid of her wings for this fight, and, in the heat of the moment, could not get them back. But as she was thrown from the ledge by the force of Jason's magical blow, Jack's hand reached out and grasped hers, stopping her midair. Her feet dangled twenty feet above the ground.

"Okay," Serene said, her voice quavering. "Not cool anymore. SO…NOT…COOL!"

"Don't worry, I gotcha," Jack reassured, tightening his grip and attempting to pull her back up. But before he could, Jason aimed and fired again.

In the millisecond before the blast of hail, ice, and snow hit a target, Jack released Serene's hand and jumped. She dropped towards the floor, barely even believing what was happening to her, but right before she was going to smack the solid ice a cool breeze swept through and someone snatched her out of the air. Her eyes were shut tight, but as she soared through the air, cradled in invisible arms, she cracked them open. Jack's blue eyes and perfect smile was the first thing she saw.

"Now we're even," he said as he rode the winds casually. "You saved my skin from eternity locked in Jason's dungeon. I saved you from becoming a grease spot on his floor. That's gotta count for something."

He landed on the ground and set Serene down gently, handing her spear back to her. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "It'll count. Don't worry, Icepop."

Jack would have stood there for the rest of the day, savoring that single kiss and wondering what his name was, but a missile of ice and hail whizzed over his head and brought him back down from the clouds. Serene yelled a battle cry and leaped back into the battle against the ice king. Jack followed and soon they were once again locked in the seemingly endless pattern of a duel.

Then, after what seemed like an eternity, Jack managed to hook his staff around Jason's neck and fling him across the room. His ice sword slid away from him. Jason backed against a corner with Jack's staff pointed at his chest. Serene advanced, her spear at the ready.

"It's over, Jason," Jack finally said. "You've lost."

Jason cackled. "You think it's that easy?" he laughed. "Just wait. Try and kill me."

"Thank you for the cue!" Serene snarled, leaping forward and plunging her spear into the tyrant's heart.

For a second Jason's form seemed to flicker. What Serene saw for a second would have at any other time made her gasp, if she had thought about it. Underneath Jason's hostile appearance and noble clothes, there was another boy, identical to Jack. His large blue eyes had a flicker of fear in them and his smooth, pale face was panic-stricken. Then it –– whatever it was –– passed, and all that was left was the cruel, arrogant ice tyrant.

Jason choked and gasped. Then he laughed. "Good, good!" he gurgled, blood bubbling in his throat. "Good job, girl! The ice kingdom is now yours to rule alone."

"What in blazes are you talking about?" Serene shot back, sliding her spear from his stomach.

"You just killed the only other heir!" he shouted hysterically before falling over dead.

Serene spun around. The staff fell from Jack's hand. The ice prince doubled over, clutching his stomach. "Jack!" she screamed.

"Our life forces…bound," Jack managed to choke out, scrabbling at the ice pendant around his neck.

Then something clicked in Serene's mind. She stared at the pendant for a microsecond, then her eyes flicked towards Jason's neck. Another ice pendant, identical to Jack's, hung from the dead tyrant's neck.

_Bound…_

Acting completely from instinct, Serene lashed out with her spear point, severing the cord on Jack's pendant and tearing the other pendant from Jason's neck. Then, holding the two pendants high in the air, she slammed the two pieces together.

Like most spells, the binding spell between Jack and Jason was weakened by the power of true love. Serene had never known it until now. Sure, she had thought he was cute, but that was pretty much it. Now she was filled with a passion for the boy with the staff who had become her savior and friend, and had the desperate urge to save him in return. But this spell was not completely severed by the love. That would be clichéd.

The real breaker of the bond was the belief. Serene believed that they would get out of this. She believed, truly and fully, that she and Jack would be able to live in a world where there was no hostility between the Fairy Kingdom and the Ice Kingdom. She believed that Jack would live. She poured every bit, every obscure little scrap of her belief, love, and magic into the two pendants as she smashed them together.

Something exploded in the throne room at that moment. None of them ever figured out what it was, whether it was Jack finally breaking free from his tie to Jason, or whether it was from the effect of the two magic-filled pendants connecting, but what they did know was that it changed history.

Serene felt herself falling backwards, and then the lights went out.

* * *

When they both came to their senses, they found the two pendants, shattered, on the ground. Jason's body was gone except for a black scorch mark on the ground. Serene shook her head and picked up her spear. Jack stumbled to his feet and picked up his staff. Then he froze in his tracks.

"Serene," he gasped, rushing forward and pulling her close for a better look.

"What?" Serene inquired. "Hey, is it me, or did my feet suddenly stop feeling cold?"

A smile grew on Jack's face that turned into a gasping laugh. "Serene, look at yourself! You're…"

Serene dug her compact mirror from her pocket and stared at the image in the reflective silver. "Oh fairy dust," she breathed, hardly believing her own reflection.

She had changed. Her raven black hair was now a smooth silver-white. Her tan skin was as pale as porcelain and her formerly brown eyes were now a startling blue. The wounds she had received in the battle with Jason had disappeared without a trace, and every visible scar had dissolved.

She held out her hand, palm up, and summoned magic. The usual silver swirl of fairy dust came to her, except now it was mixed with tiny ice crystals. She turned back to Jack, almost disbelieving what was happening.

"The signs are clear," Jack said to her. "You're meant to be the new Ice Princess."

* * *

**Ahh, Jackerene. :)**


	16. The Name Of This Chapter Is Secret

**Actually I'm just too lazy to think of a chapter name...**

* * *

When Kirsty heard the explosion, she rushed right towards the sound. Explosions meant people, right? And the only people who should be in the palace were Jack, Serene, and Jason. She had been wandering the palace, peeking into doorways and trying to find Jack and Serene, but she didn't really know the castle and had spent more time than she wanted going in circles.

Then she found herself in the throne room. Jason was nowhere to be seen. Jack was there, standing with a silver-haired girl. Neither of them noticed Kirsty until the girl turned around, meeting her eyes.

"Serene?" Kirsty exclaimed incredulously. "Is that you? Did you kill Jason?"

"All and entirely," the new Serene replied. "It's a long story. We'll tell you on the way to Fairyland."

"What happened to Jack's pendant?" she asked, pointing to Jack's bare neck and the pieces of the shattered pendants on the floor.

Realizing Kirsty would persevere until they did, they told her the entire story. "…and I became this," Serene finished. "The new Princess of the Ice Kingdom."

Kirsty's mouth dropped open, half smiling, half disbelieving. "Wait, you mean you… and Jack…you're going to…"

"Rule together," she finished. "Yes. Jack and I…we were meant for this. I was meant for him. The signs are proof enough."

"We're meant to be together," Jack said. "Well, we're not going to get married right away, of course. We'll just try it out for six months or so, and if it feels right, then we'll rule as king and queen. But if not, we can try for a federal republic, with me as President and Serene as Vice President or something."

"For snow distribution, you can take the Northern Hemisphere and I could take the South, if you want," offered Serene.

Kirsty stared, open-mouthed, at Serene, then at Jack, then back at Serene, then at Jack again. Then she started to laugh. Leaping forward, she hugged Jack and Serene. They hugged her back.

* * *

When they left the throne room, confident that Jason was truly and permanently gone, they discovered that everything Jason had done by enslaving Jack was erased. Instead of ugly, clumsy, twisted goblins roaming the halls, there were tall, graceful, pale snow-elves. The dark, icy gates of the castle walls were thrown open wide, and Jack approached them cautiously, almost fearfully. Serene and Kirsty watched silently as Jack stepped towards the gates. Then, with one bare foot, he slowly stepped past the castle gates. He smiled. Then he started to laugh, and, joyfully, started stepping in circles, his arms spread wide. He did an effortless flip in the air, using his staff as leverage. Kirsty and Serene laughed with him and joined him, dancing around him and throwing their heads back in delight. Serene even mimicked his flip. Then, before they could contain themselves, all three of them leapt into the air. Jack flew freely for the first time in centuries.

The true Ice Prince was free, and the War of the Ice Tyrant was over.

* * *

**Lord help my pathetic soul. I suck SO bad at romance and happy endings.**

**But don't worry, this isn't the real ending!**

**I've still got next chapter AND the epilogue thingamajig whazzamacallit!**

**But I have a ****WARNING:**

**There will be no more action in this fic, but there might be a few things that might potentially answer some of your questions. So you do have my permission to leave now, but I warn you: the next chapters are HORRIBLE, Jackerene-centric, and FLUFF INFESTED with maybe only a few TINY scraps of decency.**

**asdfghjkl;asdfghjkl;asdfghjkl; because I don't know how to wrap up this rambling author's note.**


	17. The Awesome Chapter (with no real title)

Rachel tapped her fingers on the table. She was tired of waiting, tired of wondering. Ever since Jason –– or, as she still knew him, Jack Frost –– left the battle, things had started getting loopy. Half hour after he left, the goblins had started to retreat, but they had a reason. They were changing. Their skin was softening and paling, their faces became smoother and lovelier, and their bald heads had sprouted pale blond hair. When the transformations were complete, there were no goblins left –– only graceful, beautiful elves; tall, powerful, and stunning.

They had instantly taken to the skies, heading back towards the Ice Castle, but the fairies had not pursued them. Instead they stood, seemingly spacing out as who knew what ran through their heads. Only Rachel and the human girls who had been employed as fairy guardians less than three hundred years ago, such as Bianca, remained the same. Bianca and Rachel, along with several other fairy-human hybrids, as Rachel called them, returned to the Fairyland Palace, with hundreds of dazed fairies, elves, and sprites trailing behind them. But when they had returned to the palace, they had found that the people who had stayed behind and not taken part in the battle –– King Oberon, Queen Titania, even the frog servants like Bertram, Francis, and Cedric –– were, like the other fairies, dazed or unconscious. The fairy-human guardians had huddled in a small circle, whispering. They had left Rachel out, or maybe just forgotten her. So she had sat down at a table and simply waited. King Oberon and Queen Titania eventually regained full mental capacity, but they joined the huddle of immortal girls and started whispering to them.

As for the fairies who had fallen in the battle, every one of them was alive and currently unscathed. Bianca had briefly explained it to her –– if a fairy was mortally wounded, she could enter a state of unconsciousness before her life force slipped away completely. There in the unconscious sleep they could rest for years, even centuries, and still remain completely alive. In the sleep any wounds they had would be healed. And so, that was what all of the fallen fairies had done. But, in their sleep, they had also seen the same things the others had seen and rejoined their clots to gossip about what they had dreamt. Even the dragon, with help from Goldie the Sunshine Fairy, had been thawed out but was bumbling around as he obviously experienced the same visions that everyone else had. Rachel was tired of waiting and wondering what was happening.

Then King Oberon stood up and strode towards a shallow golden bowl resting on a matching golden pedestal. Waving his hand over the water and chanting a spell, he waited. Rachel jumped up and tried to get a clear picture of what was happening, but there were already a dozen immortal girls huddled around the bowl and Rachel couldn't get a completely clear image.

Then, as much as Rachel could tell past the heads and wings of girl-fairies, Serene's image appeared on the surface of the water. She appeared to be holding whatever was projecting the shaking, unsteady image –– a camera, maybe? –– in her hand. But Serene had changed. Her hair and skin had lightened almost to the point of unrecognizability. Her blue eyes bore into theirs and she seemed to settle on Rachel's for a second before returning Oberon's gaze.

"Hey guys," she said casually, obviously trying to mask a grin. "What's up?"

"Serene," Oberon said, "are you flying…without wings? What happened to you? Have you defeated Jack Frost?"

"It's a long story," Serene said, "but Jack Frost is, very truly, alive and kicking."

Everyone in the room groaned. But only Oberon seemed confused. "If you did not kill him, then what happened here?"

"I don't know, what did happen there? I wasn't there. How should I know?"

Oberon shook his head and massaged his temples with his fingertips. "I'm not sure. It was just so confusing, so fast. The goblins retreated from the battle, but they changed…they changed into these, these beautiful creatures…elves, they seemed like…I'm not sure what happened. Then we all fell into a kind of trance, and there were dreams…beautiful, wonderful dreams…Jack Frost was a young boy, our friend…Serene, I know it may sound insane, but I know what I saw. You need to return."

"I know what you saw also," Serene replied. "I saw part of it too. He showed me."

"He? Who?"

"Jack Frost," she answered evenly. Then a familiar silver-haired head stuck itself into the image. The boy smiled mischievously and waved.

"Hi, Oberon," he greeted. "Remember me? Of course you do, now that your memories have returned. Hey Rachel, Kirsty says hi."

Rachel almost stumbled backwards. It was the boy from the prison cell, the one whom Jack Frost had said was his brother.

"Who are you?" Oberon snapped, but it was evident that he knew. He just wanted to deny it.

"Oh, me?" the boy laughed. "Call me Jack."

The camera, or whatever it might have been, suddenly shook and for a second all anyone could see was swirling snow, clouds, and the occasional shock of white hair, all of which was accompanied by laughter and joyful shouting. "Serene!" Oberon shouted, and at that moment the image steadied. Serene's smiling face appeared, outlined by a background of clouds and snow. Rachel caught a glimpse of a blue-clad figure with a staff doing an agile flip on his staff in the air.

"We have to go," Serene said, the smile never leaving her face. "This magical Skype business is, like, seriously distracting. I almost flew blind right through a thunderhead."

"That's what you'll learn to avoid," the boy –– Jack? –– called as he soared back to her side. "See you, Oberon. You too, Rachel and Titania. Can't wait for the party later!"

"Wait, what?" half dozen voices said at once. But the image was already fading. The last thing they heard from the image was Serene laughing her perfect laugh, saying, "By the blazes, Jack, you sure know how to throw people in for a cliffhanger."

"What just happened?" Oberon asked.

"I don't know," Titania replied, equally stunned. "I think we just got…how do the kids these days put it…"

"Burned?" Rachel finished dejectedly.

The two rulers and some of the other fairies started conversing about the meaning of the message, completely ignoring Rachel. She got bored, so she wandered the palace halls and eventually found herself outside in the castle gardens, where she, Kirsty, and Serene had left so long ago.

Then the _whoomph whoomph _of huge wings jolted her back to the present. She looked up, shading her eyes. There was a snow-white Pegasus above her, hovering, and on the Pegasus's back was…Kirsty!

"Kirsty?" Rachel called. "Is that really you?"

"Hi!" she replied cheerfully. "Yeah, it's me!"

Then a cold draft of air ripped through the gardens. A thin figure, riding on the wind, zipped behind Kirsty. Rachel screamed. "Kirsty, watch out! Jack Frost!"

Kirsty turned. "Oh, Jack wouldn't crash into me. He's too good at what he does to do that. Serene might, because I don't think she has complete control over her new abilities, but if she does it won't be on purpose."

Now that he was closer, Rachel could tell that the figure riding on the wind was not the icicle-encrusted ice king who she had feared since childhood. It was the skinny boy in the blue sweatshirt from the prison cell. He held a hooked staff in one hand and waved at Rachel with the other. It started to snow lightly.

Then, right behind the boy with the staff, was Serene. Her wings were gone, as were her boots and her white vest. But she was flying right behind the boy nevertheless, riding on the wind currents as easily as if she had wings.

"Hi Rachel!" she shouted as she soared past, leaving a trail of snowflakes in her path.

"Serene?" Rachel called. "Come on down here!"

Serene swerved around and landed lightly on the cobblestones. "That guy, too!" Rachel shouted to the boy in the blue sweatshirt, who, at Rachel's command, landed beside Serene. Kirsty landed the Pegasus on the ground and dismounted. Then, to Rachel's surprise, a voice echoed in her head –– a voice that she could swear came from the Pegasus.

_So I carried you. Where is my golden apples? Frost-Boy and Once-Small-Wing-now-Frost-Girl says that Snowflake will get some golden apples._

And then Serene replied, "Relax, Snowflake. Hold your horses."

The Pegasus stomped and snorted indignantly. _Snowflake is not HORSE. Horses is stupid and clumsy and no wings. Almost as bad as green Point-Ears before green Point-Ears turn into pretty white Point-Ears. Green Point-Ears should ride horses. They alike. Both smelly. Both dirty. Both stupid._

Everyone laughed, including Rachel. Serene scrambled up the golden apple tree and came down with an armful of fresh golden fruit. "Well, there aren't any more green Point-Ears, but there are still golden apples," she said, dumping the apples on the ground in front of Snowflake. "Here you go. You earned it."

Snowflake snorted again and leaned her head down to start munching on the apples greedily. _Thank you, Frost-Girl. Snowflake changed her mind about you. You are as good as Frost-Boy._

"Really?" Jack sniffed scornfully. "I freed you from being a slave to Jason and his goblins. She gave you a dozen stolen apples. We both get the same credit?"

Snowflake didn't look up from her meal. _Yes._

"Well, that tells me how much I'm needed around here," Jack muttered jokingly.

The clatter of hooves on the cobblestones alerted all of them. They all turned around and even Snowflake looked up from her meal. In front of them was King Oberon riding on the back of the royal Pegasus, followed by Queen Titania and a crowd of fairies.

"Serene, Kirsty," he greeted, completely ignoring Jack. "You have returned. Tell me, why is this wild creature eating the royal Pegasus's apples?"

Snowflake stomped her hooves angrily. _Snowflake is not WILD CREATURE, stupid Small-Wing ruler with no wings. Snowflake is PEGASUS. Like that ditzy thing you rides, except more smarter._ Secretly, no one doubted the truth of this.

The royal Pegasus tossed his head and snorted proudly. Oberon inclined his head. Serene stepped forward, as if shielding Snowflake. "I gave her the apples, Oberon," she said boldly. "Don't hurt her."

"And I brought her here," Jack interjected, stepping in front of Serene. "Both Snowflake and Serene."

Oberon dismounted the royal Pegasus and stepped towards Jack slowly, stopping right in front of the boy. He scrutinized him for a moment, then, unexpectedly, grabbed Jack's shoulders. Jack started in alarm, but then Oberon hugged him, laughing. Jack started nervously laughing with him, slightly confused.

"It's so good to see you again, my boy!" King Oberon greeted, as if meeting a long-lost grandson.

They retreated from their manly embrace. Jack laughed again, a real laugh this time. "You've found your memories, old man," he teased. "So sorry my brother scared you like that."

"Come, come!" the old king called to the others. "We will go inside and talk. Serene, I can't wait to hear your alibi for why you bleached your hair and lost your shoes. Again."

They all laughed.

* * *

**Okay, I lied when I said there would only be two more chapters…**

**I decided to throw coolizzy a bone for this one…she's, like, my BIGGEST fan, and I'm honored to have such a loyal supporter. So this fic will have 20 chapters (that are all fluff)!**

**So please don't flame...fluff is rather flammable you know. ^_^**


	18. Coronation of Heroes

**Fluff party time! :)**

* * *

Jack waited in the courtyard, surrounded by dancing fairies and snow-elves alike. After he, Serene, and Kirsty explained their stories to King Oberon and Queen Titania, the two rulers had called for a celebration. Several of the girlier fairies had wanted to dress Jack up for the party, but he had refused politely. But Serene had been whisked away to the palace, leaving Jack alone. Several dozen fairies had already asked him to dance, but he had also politely refused. His first dance had to be with a special girl.

He even saw Gabriella, the Snow Kingdom fairy. She had glanced his way shyly, then averted her eyes. He approached her and laid one hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Gabby," he said, using his old pet name for her. She glared at him and spat, "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to apologize," he replied. "For…everything. I'm sorry."

"It'll never be the same," she retorted. "You love that Serene girl now."

"I do," he admitted. "But I still love you. Like a sister. You were always like family to me, Gabby. I can't change that. I just wanted to let you know that I still love you, just not like Serene. She's...different."

Gabriella's hard, cold glare softened. "Thanks, Jack." Then she shyly ran off to dance with a handsome snow-elf.

Jack felt a whole lot better after knowing that she forgave him. The guilt he had been carrying for two hundred and ninety years immediately lifted off his shoulders, making him feel a whole lot lighter. He turned around and there she was.

Serene stood five feet away from him, more beautiful than he ever remembered seeing her. Her smooth silver hair had been brushed out and left loose, and there was a light dusting of silver eye shadow outlining her ice blue eyes. She wore brown cross-bound leggings, just like his, underneath a short brown skirt. She held her spear in her hands, but no one seemed to mind because Serene was known to always have a weapon at her side. And she wore a lacy white camisole and a sky-blue hoodie the same color as Jack's sweatshirt. A layer of feathery white frost embroidered the shoulders and elbow-length sleeves. Not surprisingly, she had chosen to remain barefoot.

Serene stepped up to Jack, for once not bold and sarcastic. She tucked a short lock of silver hair behind her ear shyly as she stopped in front of Jack, smiling.

"Oh," Jack muttered. "We're _that _couple now."

"Yeah," Serene said. "The girls thought it would be cute if we were a matching set."

There was a long, stony pause between them before Serene squealed, "I love it!"

Jack grinned with her and ecstatically agreed, "Me too!" Then they both hugged and the female fairies, and some male fairies, sighed.

Then King Oberon stepped forward. "It is time," he said, his booming voice echoing across the courtyard. Everyone turned towards him. "Rachel, Kirsty, Serene, and Jack Frost, please step forward."

All eyes were on them as the four stepped towards the fairy king. Kirsty and Rachel looked alarmed and confused, but Serene's and Jack's faces were masks of indifference.

"Rachel, approach," Oberon said. Rachel did so and knelt before the king. "For your bravery to stand in the Battle of the Ice King and courage in helping Queen Titania escape from imprisonment, I award you with a medal of honor." He took a silver medal and placed it around Rachel's bowed head. "Rise, Rachel."

She obeyed and felt the weight of the medal tugging on her neck. She stepped aside as Kirsty also knelt at King Oberon's command. "For you courage in the Raid of Pegasi and help in the escape of Queen Titania and the true Jack Frost, I award you with this medal of honor." Once he had placed it around her neck and told her to rise, she gazed into his eyes shyly and replied, "It was nothing. I didn't do much."

"Oh, yes you did," Serene interjected. "You took an arrow for me. And if you hadn't had led the raid, Jason would have been facing us with three dozen goblins, and even I think that would be too much for us to handle. It might seem small, but you might have saved Fairyland."

Across the courtyard, Snowflake the Pegasus whinnied excitedly. _Snowflake helps!_

King Oberon smiled and beckoned for her to come closer. "Ah," he sighed. "I almost forgot to award the creature Kirsty rode upon. Come, Snowflake the Pegasus."

Snowflake approached carefully and cautiously. _What is the No-Wing king doing to Snowflake? _she asked aloud. _Uses to shoo Snowflake away when she eats yummy golden apples that ditzy royal Pegasus eats and throws pointy stick at her. Now tells her to comes closer. Snowflake smells traps._

The royal Pegasus tossed his head indignantly and whinnied. The other pegasi and the fairies, who could speak Pegasus, snickered. Someone muttered aloud, "Somebody needs to wash his mouth out with soap."

"I am not trying to trap you," King Oberon said, ignoring the snickers. "I am trying to apologize. I am sorry for how I treated you and your fellow pegasi. Jack told me the story of how Jason had enslaved you and bred you against your will. For misunderstanding this, I apologize. I will give each of the pegasi of your…uh, clan, tribe, herd, whatever you call it…"

_Herd, _Snowflake confirmed.

"To each of the pegasi of your herd I will award five golden apples –– four to eat, and one to plant. With the seeds of the golden apples in your possession you will never have to steal from the royal tree again."

_How longs does trees have to grows until give apples? _a black-and-white spotted Pegasus called.

"About three days," Oberon replied.

Rachel and Kirsty were astounded at the short growing time, but the pegasi weren't satisfied. _So long?_ many of them inquired in exasperation until Jack said, "Hey, at least it's not like old times, where you went decades between bites."

The wild pegasi stomped their feet and snorted. _Frost-Boy is right, _Snowflake pointed out. _At least we will have the other four golden apples while we wait._

The other pegasi of Snowflake's herd reluctantly agreed, stomping their hooves. Snowflake trotted away to receive her golden apples from Queen Titania, which caused a small stampede of pegasi rushing towards the queen to get their apples. It took a while to settle the commotion, but when things quieted down, King Oberon beckoned to Serene.

"Come, Serene," he said. She did so. Oberon continued: "It has been decided. I have seen the signs and concluded that Serene is to be under my service no longer. She is to be dismissed from Fairyland service. Bianca shall take her place."

Several loud groans emanated from the crowd. Serene was a familiar figure around Fairyland. Oberon held up his hands and the noise quieted.

"She is to be dismissed," he continued, "because duty calls her elsewhere. As you all know, she has been undergoing some…physical and magical changes."

A couple people snickered but were instantly quieted by a freezing glare from Serene, who seemed to know exactly who laughed.

"The signs have shown it," Oberon said, "and Jack Frost has proven it. Serene is to become the new princess of the Ice Kingdom."

The entire courtyard burst into a racket of shouting, mutterings, and whinnying. Serene and Jack exchanged a glance, and in that one glance they seemed to converse silently back and forth. Then Jack nodded. She lifted her spear above her head and slammed it down into the ground. Frost, ice, and wind blasted throughout the courtyard, and everyone was silenced as the candles and torches were snuffed out by the small explosion. They all stared at Serene, open mouthed.

"Thank you," she said, her voice echoing throughout the silent courtyard. Then, turning back to Oberon as if nothing had happened, said evenly, "Please continue."

King Oberon, whose hair had been blown out of order by the small explosion, said, "Yes, of course. Commence with the coronation of the new Ice Princess." Then, as Gabriella the Snow Kingdom fairy relit the torches and candles with her firestone, Oberon picked up a small, delicate tiara, which was made completely of glittering ice crystals, from a pillow and held it above Serene's head. "With all the power vested in me, I crown you, Serene Frost, as the Princess of the Ice Kingdom." Then he set the crown on her bowed head and turned her around to face the crowd. "Hail Princess Serene, slayer of Jason Frost and heroine of Fairyland!"

"Hail, Princess Serene!" the crowd echoed. Serene's pale skin started to turn a deep shade of pink.

King Oberon held up his hands in a gesture for silence. As Serene stepped down, Oberon beckoned Jack to come up. When Jack did, he knelt. Oberon took another ice-crystal crown from the pillow, except that this one was different from Serene's –– larger, regal, more kingly. He set it on Jack's tousled, shaggy silver hair and helped the boy up.

Then Oberon turned him to face the crowd. "This is Jack Frost," he said, his deep voice booming across the courtyard. "Hero of Fairyland. He is the true heir to the throne of the Ice Kingdom. Know him and honor him, all who are present. He is not the tyrant you knew for nigh three centuries. The tyrant was Jason Frost, who is dead because of his brother, this hero, Jack Frost! The true prince of the Ice Kingdom has returned!"

The crowd roared and applauded. Serene stood next to him and slipped her hand into his. He gazed at her. She gazed at him. Someone started a chant: "Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" and soon the chant was taken up by everyone in the courtyard, excluding some of the more dignified people, such as King Oberon and Queen Titania.

Jack smiled at Serene. "Should I?"

Serene cast a glance at the watching crowd and grinned mischievously. Then, in a flash of silver light which seemed to come from Serene's palm, they both disappeared. Everyone gasped. Then, in the ensuing silence, a cold wind tore through the air, carrying with it two perfect, echoing laughs that faded into the night.

Serene and Jack both agreed that it was the best invisible kiss ever.

* * *

**I really, really, really should have rewritten this before posting...**

**I'm horrible at romance.**

**Just so y'all know, I wrote this literally a week after the movie came out, and I can guarantee that my current writing is a million times better.**


	19. The Fluff Party Is Continued

**More fluff! :)**

* * *

They returned to the party much later with mischievous grins on their faces. What had happened was that one of the sprites, who was taking a dare from one of his friends, was attempting to drink chocolate from the chocolate fountain without a cup and had stuck his mouth right under the stream of melted cocoa. Then, all of a sudden, the warm, liquidy chocolate that was once flowing freely froze solid all over the sprite's face. The sprite's friends started laughing, and with them joined two other laughs that tinkled clearly like silver bells. One of the snow-elves went to help the poor sprite, but he slipped on a patch of ice that had somehow appeared there. Then the punch bowl froze solid just as someone was dipping the ladle in. Molly the Goldfish Fairy's goldfish bowl froze over –– with the poor fish still inside. The crystal goblets that many people were carrying were instantly coated with frost and the drinks inside became frozen delicacies. Two melodious laughs echoed around the courtyard.

"Jack and Serene are back," Rachel said in the silence, as if it wasn't obvious already.

The two invisible presences that were the two troublemakers soared with the wind and up to the highest spire of Fairyland Palace. Serene released the invisibility spell as they circled the tower, laughing. They grasped each other's hands and spun in the air, releasing each other at just the right moment and landing lightly on the roof.

"Ah, now _that_ was fun!" Jack grinned, spinning leisurely around the flagpole and balancing precariously with one hand and his bare feet.

"You said it," Serene agreed with a smile, using her uncanny balance to stand on the rounded top of the pole with one foot, her spear resting over her shoulders. "I'm sorry that I didn't figure out how to do that years ago."

"If you had found me years ago, you might have," Jack countered. "Come on. Let's get back to the party. They're probably wondering where we were."

"But we won't tell them," Serene finished mischievously, leaping after Jack and letting the wind carry her. "Because if we did, it would send Crystal and Gabriella alarms all over the place. And Goldie, Joy, and Shannon would probably kill us."

"Exactly!" Jack exclaimed as they soared towards the courtyard. "You're finally learning how to have fun!"

"I do _too _know how to have fun!" Serene argued, stopping mid-air and snagging Jack's hoodie to stop him too.

"Being a kleptomaniac with Jason's stuff is not having fun," Jack replied, hovering with Serene above Fairyland Palace.

"Well, it's fun for me!"

"It's fun for me too. Heck, I don't even know why I'm arguing with you. I totally agree with you. Pranking Jason was one of the best things about my life."

Serene noticed that he talked about his brother in the past tense. "What's wrong?" she asked him, even though she thought she knew the answer.

Jack took her hand and led her to a spire of Fairyland Palace, where they both soared down to the roof and sat on the edge, their bare feet dangling over the edge. "It's Jason," Jack said to her. "I know I should be proud that he's dead and gone forever, but I'm not. I regret it. No matter how evil he was, he was still my brother."

Serene shrugged. "So? He didn't care."

"No. He did care. That was his one weakness. No matter how much he changed himself, there was still a scrap of goodness left in him. He and I…we were once twins."

Serene was silent as she stared out over Fairyland from their high-up perch. "So that's what it was."

"What?"

"Right after I stabbed Jason, I saw his form flicker, and for a second I thought I saw …you."

"He changed himself with magic," Jack explained. "He didn't want to be confused with me anymore. 'There is only one Ice King,' he said once, 'and he shouldn't look like a kid.' So when you struck the fatal blow, his magic faltered and you saw what he used to be. What he was meant to be."

Serene said nothing for quite a while, listening to the wind whistle around their ears. Then she said, "What was he like, before he turned?"

"He was just like me," Jack replied softly. "We were inseparable and so much alike that sometimes we used to switch identities just to confuse people. But he was always a little more…distant. Then, when our father died and I took the throne, he spent his days locked inside his library, studying books of spells and who-knows-what. And, little by little, he started to change."

A part of her wanted to say something acerbic but the other part held her tongue. It was probably the first time that Serene had abstained from a smart-aleck comment. Instead she smiled weakly and said, "Come on. Let's go. And remember, if anyone asks, we were at McDonald's. Not Malibu."

They dove towards the courtyard and landed in the middle of a clot of fairies, scattering the winged girls and causing about half of them to slip on ice that somehow appeared out of nowhere. Kirsty and Rachel rushed forward, calling, "Jack! Serene! You're back! Where were you?"

"McDonald's," they replied in slightly guilty unison.

"I highly doubt that," Queen Titania said, striding forward from the crowd, "but I feel that they will become even more stubborn if we ask them."

"You got that right," the two answered in chorus. Then they glared at each other.

"Are we going to do this all night?" they asked each other at the same time. They shook their heads, saying separately, "Okay, that's weird" and "Whoa, okay, let's stop that."

"Aww, that's so romantic!" Rachel sighed. "You're already saying things together!"

Jack and Serene glared at her, and she shut up.

* * *

The party rocked on all night. By the time the first rosy streaks of daylight started to peek over the horizon, the partygoers were exhausted and the courtyard was trashed. Some of the fairies had fallen asleep right there on the flagstones and had to be woken up. Rachel had tried to pull an overnighter but had fallen asleep in a corner, using a bag of marshmallows as a pillow, but then woke up and found herself on the roof of one of the Fairyland Palace towers without having any idea of how she had gotten there. There were even a few sprites and elves who had consumed so much sugar that they were actually, in fact, drunk on sweets and couldn't remember a single thing about what had happened after they went on their sugar highs. Serene and Jack managed to stay up the entire night, but they were both running on mild sugar highs from a contest against some sugar-drunk sprites and a snow-elf to see who could eat the most fairy cakes before throwing up. Jack had a hand-written sign taped to the back of his sweatshirt that read, _You bite, Frosty!_

When the party died down, Kirsty and Rachel decided that it was probably time to get back to the human world. It was probably the longest amount of time that they had ever spent in Fairyland at once, but they knew that the fairies could arrange it so that they returned at the same time they left. Jack and Serene stayed long enough to watch them leave. They both had something hidden in their sweatshirt pockets, but they didn't tell anyone what they were until Kirsty and Rachel were about to leave.

Kirsty seemed perplexed and sad. "Will we ever see you again?"

"If there's anything my instincts have taught me over the years," Serene said, "it's that they're never wrong. And right now, they're telling me that our paths will cross again, I promise."

But just as Titania was about to cast the spell to send them back, Serene stood in front of Rachel, and Jack before Kirsty. A ripple of giggles swept through the crowd at the sight of Jack's _You bite, Frosty! _sign. With a flick of her finger, Serene ripped the sign from Jack's sweatshirt with a tiny gust of wind. Then, in perfect unison, and ignoring the crowd while they did it, they slipped something hard and cold into the two girls' hands.

Rachel and Kirsty looked. In their hands rested two identical ice pendants, carved in the shapes of thin diamonds. The pendants seemed glow with silvery-blue magic and didn't even melt in Kirsty's and Rachel's warm palms.

"We got you these," Serene said. "If you ever need us, just rub them three times, say our names –– "

" –– And we'll be there for you," Jack finished.

"Thank you," Rachel said.

"How will you be there for us?" Kirsty asked.

"We promise, we will," Serene said. "Now go. I hate goodbyes."

"Really? Me too!" Jack exclaimed.

Just as they were waving to all of their fairy, elfin, and frosty friends, Titania waved her hand and the girls were immersed in a swirl of fairy dust.

Kirsty found herself back in her bedroom, holding something cold in her clutched hand. She opened it and looked. There, in her hand, was the diamond ice pendant.

She smiled. Then, logging onto her laptop, she called Rachel on Skype. She thought that they would have a lot to talk about.

* * *

**Epilogue will be posted tomorrow. It's more fluff, by the way...but I do have the info for a sequel posted there.**


	20. HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL IT'S AN EPILOGUE!

Later, two days after the party, Jack and Serene were back at their Ice Castle. They were busily working on remodeling the entire place. The spiky black bars that surrounded the castle were replaced by glittering silver ice gates. Jack had revoked all of Jason's stupid laws that had applied only to him, such as "No flying in the hallways" and "No dropping firecrackers down the goblins' pants". Beautiful torches of silvery-blue werelights –– courtesy of Serene –– now lit the once-gloomy halls. Jack and Serene had destroyed all of the statues of Jason by pegging them with Serene's paintball guns and then smashing them to little multicolored pieces with their staffs. Jack had set up a skateboarding/ice skating rink in an empty courtyard where he and Serene could practice ice, snow, and wind skills. Penny the Pony Fairy, along with Snowflake and several dozen pegasi, were building a special stable exclusively for traveling or homeless pegasi. They planned to call it _Frost-Boy's Pegasi Palace._ And Serene and Jack had, together, built in the ice castle a special room with a balcony with a beautiful view, just for the two of them.

They were also getting to know each other better. They found that they had a lot in common and delighted greatly in debating against the other in topics that they did not agree on –– such as Serene's argument against Jack about wintergreen LifeSavers being much better than spearmint. (This was always a touchy topic for them; Serene said that wintergreen had a sweetness to it that you couldn't find in spearmint, but Jack disagreed and claimed that the wintergreen "sweetness" made him want to gag up the LifeSaver in question. Privately, each one believed that he or she had won, so this was always an interesting conversation of many results. Another interesting debate was the "Serene's Dark Chocolate with Orange Slivers vs. Jack's Dark Chocolate with Lime Slivers" phenomenon, but digging any deeper into that particular argument would fill several dozen more pages.)

But one day, when they were putting the finishing touches on a new recreational center –– which was complete with six different video game systems, a Dance Dance Revolution, a snack bar, a bowling alley, and a huge flat screen TV –– Serene had a very off-topic thought. She had remembered something and dragged Jack along with her without telling him what exactly it was.

"Remind me once more," Jack said, "where, exactly, are you taking me and why?"

"The north tower treasury," Serene replied, using her new powers over the wind to whisk them up through the window.

They landed amidst the mountains of stored treasures. Serene gestured to the entire room with a dramatic sweep of her hand and said, "Here is only part of everything your brother stole over the years."

"Holy icepops," Jack gasped, his mouth wide open in awe. "What are we going to do with all this? We can't just leave it here."

"Exactly," Serene replied proudly. "What _shall _we do with it all? It's in your castle. Do the math. Ooh," she said, flinching, as something caught her eye. "I guess I forgot to bring back Queen Titania's stuff. Whoops."

Jack stepped up to an entire table piled high with stuffed animals. "Jason collected stuffed animals?" he snorted derisively. "That's so –– can I keep this one?" He turned around with a large plush dolphin in his arms.

Serene smiled and waved her arm, walking away. "It's all ours now," she said. "We killed Jason. Take whatever else you want."

Jack hugged the dolphin with a pleased, childish smile on his face. Serene laughed and picked an iPod out of the junk pile, scrolling through the playlist. "Grow up, Jack."

"That's the thing," Jack replied. "I'm immortal. I can never grow up."

Serene whacked him playfully. "You better not. If you start to even show the first signs of puberty, I swear by my spear I will cast a time-stopping spell."

"I've seen twelve-year-old boys with zits. I have never gotten a case of acne in my three hundred and twenty-year life. You think I'm going to start now?"

Serene laughed and tugged his wrist. "No. Come on. We have an Ice Kingdom to rule."

And for the first time in both of their lives, they felt that the threat was gone. There would still be struggles along the way, but a sort of peace had finally come. They could finally have some real fun.

* * *

**Crappy ending, I know. Or was it good? I dunno. Everyone says that their endings are crappy so I have nothing to compare to.**

**Okay, so I said something in chappie 19 about a sequel? Yeah, well, I'm still thinking about that. If you want one, I could write it –– I already have this random plot bunny for it and a brand-new OC that I think you guys might like. Rachel would probably be in it a bit more, and something tells me that I might be able to get Pitch Black in there too because the ROTG characters weren't really in this one…but that is up to you guys. If you want me to continue, then I have no qualms against that –– save the qualm that tells me that I really have got to start working on my original novel, but since I usually ignore that one, it doesn't count.**

**So what do you guys think?**

**Reviews are love…**


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